31-05-2012

Stadium MRT Station, Singapore by WOHA

Section:Sport & Wellness, Stations, underground,

abstract

Subway stations are very crowded places. Good design of places like this which form the backdrop for our everyday lives has a major impact on every one of us. WOHA architects demonstrate their awareness of this in their plan for Singapore’s Stadium MRT Station.

In 2000 the Singapore Land Transport Authority (LTA) and the Singapore Institute of Architects announced an anonymous international competition for two subway stations, with an emphasis on good design and innovation. WOHA under Wong Mun Summ and Richard Hassell won the competition.

The project perceives the station as similar to the great railway stations of the 19th century, in which station architecture was an integral part of the travel experience and a landmark in the city.

The station plays an important role reducing traffic on city roads, making it easy for citizens to reach a pole of attractions including the Singapore Indoor Stadium, Kallang Theatre and the National Stadium conveniently by public transport. Thus what was formerly a high traffic area is restored to pedestrians, improving quality of life in the area.

Designed to ensure the safe transit of large numbers of people, the square and pathways outside also provide a new focus for the nearby residential district, with benches, trees and places for people to get together. It offers plenty of opportunities for future development at street level as the neighbourhood and its attractions grow.

The construction’s shape pays homage to the old Singapore's National Stadium, which has been demolished to make way for the new Sports Hub, currently under construction. The station interiors, true to the principles of “good design”, are lit up by natural light from a large opening in the roof. Aluminium cladding designed specifically for the project by the architects adds luminosity for a “soft-touch” look.

We repeat the architects’ wish: “We hope the very good outcome and positive feedback that the stations have generated will encourage more government projects to be procured with this focus on design”.

Design: WOHA Architects Pte Ltd, http://www.woha.net
Location: Singapore
Year: Completed in 2008, start of service in 2010
Photographs: © Patrick Bingham-Hall
Awards: International Architecture Award - Winner awarded by The Chicago Athenaeum: Museum of Architecture and Design and The European Centre for Architecture Art Design and Urban Studies, 2010
President's Design Award 2010 - Design of the Year, awarded by DesignSingapore Council and Urban Redevelopment Authority, 2010

GALLERY