Częstochowa – Railway Station
The first phase starts from the existing bridge over the tracks, kept whole and extended east and west.
- Type
- Competition won
- Status
- Under construction
- Client
- Polish Railway Station S.A.
- Scale
- 13,000 m²
- Program
- Railway station, chapel, hotel, conference rooms, restaurant and shops
- Architect
- AND Studio
About
At each end it rests on clear glass volumes at ground level. The larger one, to the east, holds the ticket offices, information, car hire and the way into the old underground passage.
The station itself asks for little: ticket machines, cash points, information and toilets at ground level, and a waiting room with a drinks counter above. An escalator and a lift link the two levels, and further lifts where the arcade meets the stairs give step-free access to the platforms. Railway offices and plant rooms take the top floor of the eastern part.
In the second phase the bridge reaches Wolności Avenue on two more glass volumes. In a city of pilgrims and visitors the new part suits a hotel, with its lobby, restaurant and conference rooms at ground level and a mezzanine for services.
Horizontal reflective metal panels of varying widths wrap all four sides of the bridge. Along its great length they catch the light differently from wherever you stand, and they cover every seam between old and new: odd window junctions, changes in roof height, ventilation and cooling plant. The long, irregular lines read as movement, which is what a railway is.
A clock tower on the east side recalls the original Warsaw–Vienna station. Its steel frame is clad in white milk glass that reflects the sun by day and glows from within at night, seen from Piłsudskiego Street, the Council of Europe square and Wolności Avenue.