Vilnius, Lithuania
“Providing a wealth of new public space, our proposals transform the site into a destination not only for those using the transportation hub but also for the city of Vilnius and the local community,” states Gianluca Racana, Zaha Hadid Architects’ Director.
Zaha Hadid Architects together with CLOUD architektai have won first place in the renovation and redesign of the Soviet Union-era Vilnius Railway Station in Lithuania’s capital city.
The ZHA team will remove the temporary kiosks and offices installed over recent decades, while the team will restore the existing 9,000-square-metre station and link it with a new public transport terminal for the city’s bus networks.
The deep-rooted design approach is a signature of the firm: fluid lines, layered landscape elements, and undulating roof structure of the station are overlapped to provide a visual and functional coherence.
In front of the station, the studio will design an inhabited landscape within the upgraded Stoties Square park and the terminal’s outdoor amphitheater and ramp will lead to a public terrace on its roof.
The studio will relocate the existing car parking in Stories Square to a new underground facility, the square, and its adjacent park will become a vibrant civic space for the city with over 300 new trees.
The design will incorporate 4,000 square meters of landscaping with the creation of tree-lined avenues along its main axes and water gardens for the natural collection, filtration, and purification of rainwater.
The new 46-meter-wide concourse bridge will span 150 meters across the railway platforms.
The bridge will be supported 10 meters above the tracks, and common in ZHA’s design, the roof of the bridge is designed with fluid forms, and the terraced landscape of the bus terminal is constructed in locally sourced laminated timber that is lightweight, fire-resistant, and incorporates low embodied carbon.
The overall design integrates nature-based solutions, such as green roofs, landscaping, and planting will lower temperatures in summer and provide heat insulation in the winter.
“It is an honor to be awarded highest ranking in this competition for such a strategically important site for Vilnius.
‘Green Connect’ will be a future-proof transport hub designed with the passenger experience in mind,” said Racana.
“The composition of the station’s new bridge gradually transforms along its length; from the pitched roof defined by the existing neoclassical station’s triangular pediment into softer geometries and volumes that reduce in scale to land at Pelosos Street in the Naujininkai district,” he continues.
Architects: Zaha Hadid Architects
Design Team: Patrik Schumacher, Gianluca Racana, Ludovico Lombardi, Michele Salvi, and Davide del Giudice
ZHA Project Team: Alexandra Fisher, Jose Navarrete Deza, Maria Lagging, Richard Maekallas, and May Harper
ZHA Sustainability Team: Carlos Bausa Martinez, Megan Smylie, Taras Kashko, Vera Kichanova
Local Executive Architect: CLOUD architektai
Engineers: Sweco Lietuva UAB
Landscape Architect: LAND srl
Client: LTG Infra and Vilnius City Municipality
