Description

The master plan for the conversion and regeneration of the rail tracks adjacent to Basel Schweizer Bahnhof railway station strived for an intensive urban use of the area. As a consequence, an engine depot and a signal box of the Swiss Federal Rail had to be relocated to the rail tracks “Auf dem Wolf”. The wall of the Wolf-Gottesacker cemetery, the long buildings of the goods depot and an industrial park to the east define the large triangular site. This site was felt by the architects to be “a kind of vacuum in the city”, a space comprising rail sidings, shacks and storage halls, allotment cabins and wild bushes and trees, surrounded by the city. The architects understood the rail tracks as a fluid, organic system, contrasting with the crystalline “frozen” system of the other parts of the city.

Herzog & de Meuron placed the various sheds and workshops adjacent to each other; the offices of the rail administration are stacked in a multi-storey L-shaped building embracing the facility. Five elongated parallel buildings made of in-situ concrete serve as carriage depots and take up the structure of the multiple tracks. They vary in size and can be extended in length and width if required.

The modular load-bearing structure of the depot corresponds with the system of load-bearing and charging. The lattice trusses of the roof structure are spaced at regular intervals and rest on top of the massive longitudinal walls. Large square slabs are set flush with the walls and highlight the solid, enclosed character of the longitudinal wall. The girders span across the engine depots. To ensure sufficient day-lighting, the trusses are clad with figured glass on the sides. The roof areas between the “light-trusses” sag slightly and are covered with construction debris from the site and grass for insulation purposes. Following the direction of the rail tracks, the air-conditioning units are positioned on top of the roof trusses like containers.

A front building, which is attached at the south side along the depots and maintenance halls, forms the entrance to the complex. Internally, the window openings of the six-storey concrete skeleton were shut with metal elements, glazed, or left open. The office wing housing the rail administration and a canteen is situated above three concrete pipes spanning the column-free maintenance workshop for vehicles on the ground floor.

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Originally published in: Jürgen Adam, Katharina Hausmann, Frank Jüttner, Industrial Buildings: A Design Manual, Birkhäuser, 2004.