Train station geldrop
SketchUp | Logistics | Design
Since the train station in Geldrop became a litte (or a lot) old fashioned, we were tasked to design a new one. This was to be done with SketchUp, which is an amazing app if you know how to use it. I eventually really liked working on the station. It is a good thing that I liked it, because I really needed a lot of patience. Not only because there was always one line out of place, but also because I spent at least 20% of my time waiting for the program to unfreeze again. All that aside, here is the result!
Since the train station in Geldrop became a litte (or a lot) old fashioned, we were tasked to design a new one. This was to be done with SketchUp, which is an amazing app if you know how to use it. I eventually really liked working on the station. It is a good thing that I liked it, because I really needed a lot of patience. Not only because there was always one line out of place, but also because I spent at least 20% of my time waiting for the program to unfreeze again. All that aside, here is the result!
Step one: Research
Of course, this was the first thing to be done. To actually be able to improve the train station of Geldrop I first needed to know what was wrong. The map on the right shows where the station is located, which side the city centre and hospital are and how many train tracks there are. This last one is an odd one: Geldrop has 4 train tracks running right through the city, of which 2 are not even accessible from the station itself. Also, I needed to think of something which made the station a bit less of an obstacle in the middle of the town.
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Step two: Drawing
This part was essential to get an idea on what would be possible, practical and perfect for the new train station. The station was located in the middle of town, and kind of split up the small city. The station needed to be able to connect these two sides to each other and make the station a nice and welcoming place to go. After all, the station is the first impression travellers get from the city. And as for the inhabitants of Geldrop, going from one side of town to the other had to be fluent and not to scary in a dark, small tunnel.
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Step three: Layout
This was the first part done with SketchUp. My first impression? "Wow, this application sucks." Starting the SketchUp process was way harder than I had imagined and 'just design a new train station' became a much more difficult assignment.
At first I practiced some basic skills of SketchUp before actually moving on to the station. Once I started on that, I decided to draw the outlines of what the station had to look like. |
I started making a ground plan to design my station upon, keeping the (bicycle)roads and train rails in consideration. This also included reseraching the basic information, like ow far the rails lay apart from each other (20 m), how much the distance is between the two iron rails (1,435 m) and how high the platform should be above the rails (0,76 m). This resulted in a basic train station. However, the two train tracks lying there just for transport of goods still bothered me, so I decided to get rid of them by putting them through a tunnel.
Step four: sketch it up
After a lot of 'blood, sweat and tears', I managed to make the most out of the station on SketchUp. I decided to put the platform high above the ground and place shops, restaurants, cafes and a service desk underneath. In order to have enough space for the trains, the tracks are a little wider than the shops. This gives an overhang over the walking route next to the shops. A large part of this overhang is made of frosted glass to make sure enough light reaches the pavement beneath.
On ground level, on the city centre side of the station, there is a parking lot, including spaces for the disabled. Also, there is a tunnel for bikes and pedestrians to get to the other side of the station. The cyclists can choose take a turn right before this tunnel and enter the bicycle parking lot. As a decoration, the lyrics from Queen's Bicycle Race is displayed on the windows. The platform can be entered by taking the stairs at the restaurant, or by taking the elevator or stairs in the tunnel. Up on the platform everything is centered around coming and going. There is a small shop-and-go store with food and other necessities, and of course the end of the elevator and staircases. For the rest, there is nothing but a few benches, to make the space as open and accessible as possible. The station is guarded from the weather by a large glass roof which looks and functions like the roof over station Sloterdijk, which gave me the inspiration. On the not-city centre side are the remaining two train tracks, which travel through an underground tunnel to make sure they are not in the way of the travelling people. |