UNStudio and b720 Arquitectura together with engineering firm Esteyco have won a competition to remodel Madrid-Chamartín Clara Campoamor Station and its urban integration in Spain.

Nominated by a 16-member jury in the competition, UNStudio and b720 Arquitectura's proposal has beaten other shortlisted teams included BIG, Foster + Partners, OMA, Zaha Hadid Architects, Grimshaw, RSHP and Souto de Moura.

"We are truly delighted that our design has been nominated as the winning proposal for this extremely exciting urban regeneration project," said UNStudio co-founder Ben van Berkel. 

"Madrid is fast becoming one of the most exciting and attractive cities in Europe. The transformation of this area will invigorate this part of the city while adding new green lungs to Madrid."

"We are thrilled to have worked with the best possible local partners on this proposal, as collaboration was key to our team’s success," added Van Berkel.

Image © b720

The design, flanked by two towers, retains and respects the historical vaulted roofs of Chamartín station, reintrepreting them as a unifying element. 

The station complex is enriched by a large public square in the front façade, allowing access for all modes of transport, such as taxi, metro and active mobility, with pedestrians, bicycles, scooters.

Image © bucharest.studio

The international competition was launched in 2020 by Adif Alta Velocidad (AV) to transform the Madrid-Chamartín Clara Campoamor railway hub into an international benchmark for sustainable, multimodal, connected and integrated mobility.

The design scheme, dubbed as "Open ecosystem", unanimously obtained the maximum possible score from the jury, according to UNStudio. 

The design incorporates many aspects such as functionality - railway, commercial and tertiary - constructive feasibility, accessibility and integration into the city, environmental sustainability and inclusivity, with the aim of turning the Chamartín complex into an urban and architectural reference in Madrid.

Image © Play-Time

A key element that the team deemed essential in the proposed design was to retain and respect the historical vaulted roofs of Chamartín station, recognising them as a singular and identifying element of the station. 

Stepped terraces are then added to generate permeability with the surrounding city, while urban balconies open views over the station and integrate the complex into its surroundings. The station therefore forms a porous extension to the new parks located on either side of the complex.

"Our main focus was to retain and improve the existing station complex and to activate its surroundings with a careful mix of fast and slow programme; to design a highly sustainable future-proof urban hub, while densifying and truly activating the area with working, living, leisure and learning," said Ben van Berkel. 

"The new station area will vastly improve this part of the city, attracting new flows of people and bringing quality of life in this part of Madrid to the next level," he added.

Image © Play-Time

The complex is flanked by new towers and welcomed by a public square and planned to host a wide array of commercial programmes. 

In the design, the complex is transformed into a large urban courtyard that serves as a fully integrated mobility hub to provide easy access to other modes of transport, such as taxi, metro and active mobility.

The integrated sustainability strategy responds to the criterion of an adaptable and inclusive infrastructure: accessible, digitised, last mile logistics and urban design, designed for pedestrians and local mobility; doubling capacity and organising flows.

Image © Play-Time

The design for the Madrid-Chamartín Clara Campoamor masterplan builds on UNStudio’s 30 years of experience and accumulated expertise in station design. 

UNStudio has experience on transportation and mobility projects, including Arnhem Central Station to the Doha Metro Network.

Design excellence, urban activation, sustainability and outstanding user experience are the core design principles at the studio's mobility projects.

Image © Play-Time

Project facts

UNStudio Team: UNStudio: Ben van Berkel and Astrid Piber with Enrique López, Lars van Hoften, Christian Robles, Nikoleta Mougkasi, Alba Peláez, Khaled Omara, Dichao Wang, Qiliang Tang, Craig Trompetter.

With advice from: Arjan Dingsté, Ren Yee, Jaap-Willem Kleijwegt.

Top image © bucharest.studio.

All images © bucharest.studio, Play-Time, b720.

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