INTERMODAL HUB, DEBRECEN

Location Debrecen
Client Municipality of Debrecen
Floor area 45 000 m2
General design MCXVI Architects
Leading architect designer László Herczeg
Architect designers Kata Csaba, Tamás János Pintér
Project phase Design Competition
Project year 2013

Since the 1850’s, from the beginning of the construction of the railway, architects at all time sought the character and position of the railway station within the city of Debrecen. The Petőfi Square and the railway station could never be independent from the Piac Street, the main axis of the city, and the Great Church which is located at the end of the street. We tried to form the building to absorb the city and its squares, to connect the detached quarters of the city and to fit into the scale of the traditional cityscape. At the same time we tried to create a clear, luminous building that leads to associations.

The building was placed above the traffic junction. The wings of our building had a rational width, and the enclosed space became a passenger hall. We imagined above the railway not just an overpass, but a street. The building has four stories. At the basement there is a P+R parking area with 600 parking places. The ground floor is the space for the motorized traffic. Here you will find buses, trams, railway platforms and taxi stops. The first floor is the passenger’s distribution space with shops, cafés and with all the services related to travelling. The second floor is for the offices.

From the street level, the floral shape of the building cannot be perceived. There is more emphasis on the end walls. The deep lamella system on the curved facades makes the image of the building compressed or transparent from the different points of view.