048 Railway Engine Depot Auf dem Wolf

Project: 1989
Realization: 1991-1995

As part of an overall renovation program for Basel’s main station, the new railway engine depot and signal box were part of a first construction phase. Situated on a triangular junction of numerous tracks, the configuration of the depot and workshop sheds express the tight functional displacement of the volumes. This was the starting point of the design.

The structural system generated from this series of linear buildings is one of cast in-situ reinforced concrete walls with a roof structure of deep, one-storey high square-section steel girders. This roof structure allows for sky lighting to the deep plan space. The girders support a series of quasi-tensile membranes that are covered by grass, protecting the membrane and acting as an ideal insulator for both summer and winter climatic conditions. To the south end of the plan there is a three-storey office block which spans across four girders of varying widths.

Herzog & de Meuron, 1995

Process

Earlier ideas took into consideration the old buildings on the grounds. Numerous changes are referred to in the text as a multitude of materials; the drawing shows that parts of the window openings in the concrete walls were supposed to have been filled with masonry. The front of the engine depot shows a similarity to the serial structure of the tracks. The grounds with the old sheds used to be a no-mans-land in the midst of Basel before the commencement of work.

Earlier models combined saddle and flat roofs. The facilities at the flanks for use by third parties, for which bridge arms were at first considered, were abandoned due to a redimensioning.

Drawings

Team

Partners: Jacques Herzog; Pierre de Meuron
Project Team: Ferdinand Facklam; Philippe Fürstenberger; Niklaus Graber; Harry Gugger; Klaus Loehnert; Stefan Marbach

Facts

Client: Schweizerische Bundesbahnen – Hochbau Kreis II
Planning: General Planning: Proplaning. AG, Basel, Switzerland; Construction Management: Burckhardt & Partner, Basel, Switzerland; General Contractor: Arge GU Marti AG, Basel, Switzerland; Electrical Planning: Selmoni AG, Basel, Switzerland; Sanitary Planning: Balduin Weisser AG, Basel, Switzerland; HVAC (Climate Control Design): Sulzer Energieconsulting AG, Liestal, Switzerland; Structural Engineering: Proplaning. AG, Basel, Switzerland
Specialist / Consulting: Steel Constructions: Jakem AG, Münchwilen, Switzerland
Building Data: Site Area: 175'559 sqft, 16'310 sqm; Gross floor area (GFA): 264'253 sqft, 24'550 sqm

Bibliography

Gerhard Mack, Herzog & de Meuron: “Herzog & de Meuron 1989-1991. The Complete Works. Volume 2.” Edited by: Gerhard Mack. Chinese ed. Beijing, China Architecture & Building Press, 2010. Vol. No. 2.

Luis Fernández-Galiano (Ed.): “Arquitectura Viva. Herzog & de Meuron 1978-2007.” 2nd rev. ed. Madrid, Arquitectura Viva, 2007.

Fernando Márquez Cecilia, Richard Levene (Eds.): “El Croquis. Herzog & de Meuron 1981-2000. Between the Face and the Landscape. The Cunning of Cosmetics. Entre el Rostro y el Paisaje. La Astucia de la Cosmética.” 2nd adv. and rev. ed. Vol. No. 60+84, Madrid, El Croquis, 2005.

Nobuyuki Yoshida (Ed.): “Architecture and Urbanism. Herzog & de Meuron 1978-2002.” Tokyo, A+U Publishing Co., Ltd., 02.2002.

Gerhard Mack, Herzog & de Meuron: “Herzog & de Meuron 1989-1991. Das Gesamtwerk. Band 2. The Complete Works. Volume 2.” Edited by: Gerhard Mack. Basel / Boston / Berlin, Birkhäuser, 1996. Vol. No. 2. 2nd adv. and rev. ed. Basel / Boston / Berlin, Birkhäuser, 2005.

Jacques Herzog, Pierre de Meuron: “Proyecto de Depósito de Trenes. Proyecto para el Schwarz Park. Proyecto para la Diagonal. Project for a Train Depot. Project for Schwarz Park. Project for the Diagonal.”
In: Josep Lluís Mateo (Ed.). Quaderns d’Arquitectura i Urbanisme. Ciudad y Proyecto. City and Project. Vol. No. 183, Barcelona, Colegio de Arquitectos de Cataluña. Association of Catalan Architects, 12.1989. pp. 116-121.