Railway Station with Aquaponics Farms

West Pomeranian University of Technology, Faculty of Architecture

Project idea

To be in front of the ecological challenges which are one of the most important tasks of contemporary architecture and education I decided to blend a railway station with an aquaponic farm. This idea could bring good patterns into citizen's everyday life. It is also interesting how new public spaces can be mix-used.
The building of the station is following the function, so what can be noticed the shape of the structure allows all passengers but also pedestrians to get to the opposite side of the tracks. On the level of the tracks, inside the raised parts of the building, there are two aquaponic farms which are organized on the two cascade structures. Each one for one platform. The idea of the system is based on granting train tickets to have an opportunity to rent a place in an aquaponic farm to grow fresh, tasty vegetables. Passengers who use the Metropolitan Railway of Szczecin the most could have this opportunity in the first place. It is the system which could encourage people to chose public transport, not a car.

Project description

The task I had to handle in this project was to design a railway station with a small function and blending it into one architectural organism. I decided to create this station by adding an aquaponic farm and shaping an expression form of the final building as a landmark of the local green area. The location of the project is plot near the old railway station in the "Pogodno" district in Szczecin. The area near the plot is a not-built space full of greenery. This green zone is located around the plot where a project could be build so there was a possibility to create a clear landmark. Another important fact is that this station would be mostly visited on the weekends which influenced the close location to the city stadium. The station is directed to the stadium to improve the connection between the stadium and railway station on an urban scale.

Technical information

Construction of the building is based on a Vierendeel truss based on concrete poles. Working of the aquaponic farm system is possible thanks to the pool with fish on level -1 which are nourishing the water. In the next step, nutrient water comes into an aquaponic farm on level 0 by the installation fixed at the concrete construction poles. In the first place, water comes into technical space under the terraces with aquaponic farms and then into the plants. After the fided up plants water comes back to the pool with fish.

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