Tetrarc

Multimodal Interchange

Multimodal Interchange
© Stéphane Chalmeau

MULTIMODAL INTERCHANGE

TETRARC

ARCHITECTS
TETRARC

LANDSCAPE ARCHITECT
Louise Follin

STRUCTURAL ENGINEER
Structure SCE

PHOTOGRAPHS
Stéphane Chalmeau

YEAR
2012

LOCATION
Saint-nazaire, France

CATEGORY
Bus station

Multimodal Interchange
© Stéphane Chalmeau
Multimodal Interchange
© Stéphane Chalmeau

Text description provided by architect.

Saint Nazaire railway station is the focal point of a public transport network for a sprawling town that is destined for further growth.

Multimodal Interchange
© Stéphane Chalmeau
Multimodal Interchange
© Stéphane Chalmeau

The creation of a high-frequency bus route lead to the reworking of the roadways and parking areas for buses and coaches around the station as well as the development of the square in front of the station.

Discussions between the architects, the town authorities and the Carène development council led to changes from the initial design.

Multimodal Interchange
© Stéphane Chalmeau
Multimodal Interchange
© Stéphane Chalmeau

The bus and coach parking areas are to be located on the existing plaza between the station and the post-war buildings opposite.

Using this site relieves congestion for buses and coaches.

Multimodal Interchange
© Stéphane Chalmeau
Multimodal Interchange
© Stéphane Chalmeau

A cheaper, longer-lasting coating is to replace the granite planned for the public transport operating area.

The budget that this has freed up means that two long parallel canopies can be built to protect public transport users. 

Multimodal Interchange
© Stéphane Chalmeau
Multimodal Interchange
© Stéphane Chalmeau

Standing out in the town thanks to their broad, flowing and colourful protective covers, they provide the additional comfort of enclosed glazed shelters which protects against the often violent winds of the Atlantic coast.

Concrete slabs are used to cover the plaza, creating a carpet on which are spread a bike rack in the shape of an engine shed, benches, information screens and lamp posts whose shape directs the eye towards the station entrance.

Multimodal Interchange
© Stéphane Chalmeau
Multimodal Interchange
© Stéphane Chalmeau

Very close by, the post-war period concrete bridge over the railway lines has been replaced by a metal one.

A segregated bus lane and two lanes for cars take up the central roadway.

Multimodal Interchange
© Stéphane Chalmeau
Multimodal Interchange
© Stéphane Chalmeau

To the sides, two pavements each provide a footpath and a cycle path. 

The desire to protect pedestrians and cyclists from bad weather, along with the requirement to build railings above the railway lines, produced the distinctive shapes.

Multimodal Interchange
© Stéphane Chalmeau
Multimodal Interchange
© Stéphane Chalmeau

That emphasise engineering in the town by evoking the silhouettes of ocean liners under construction which are visible above the town's skyline.

The station is at a symbolic crossroads between the port town and the railways, the town centre and the outlying commercial districts, the post-war town and its urban growth at Circé-Trignac.

Multimodal Interchange
© Stéphane Chalmeau


Multimodal Interchange
© Stéphane Chalmeau
Multimodal Interchange
© Stéphane Chalmeau
Multimodal Interchange
© Stéphane Chalmeau
Multimodal Interchange
© Stéphane Chalmeau
Multimodal Interchange
© Stéphane Chalmeau
Multimodal Interchange
© Stéphane Chalmeau
Multimodal Interchange
© Stéphane Chalmeau
Multimodal Interchange
© Stéphane Chalmeau
Multimodal Interchange
© Stéphane Chalmeau
Multimodal Interchange
© Stéphane Chalmeau


Multimodal Interchange
© Stéphane Chalmeau
Multimodal Interchange
© Stéphane Chalmeau
Multimodal Interchange
© Stéphane Chalmeau
Multimodal Interchange
© Stéphane Chalmeau


Multimodal Interchange
Elevation
Multimodal Interchange
Elevation & Section


Multimodal Interchange
General Plan
Multimodal Interchange
Floor Plan

Tetrarc
T +33 2 40894626 F +33 2 40894734
Tetrarc
19 bis Rue La Noue Bras de Fer, 44200 Nantes, France