Urban regeneration, architecture of Sopot’s new rail station is the twenty-ninth article on projects from practice. The urban regeneration and architecture of the Sopot rail station project is located in the northern area of Poland adjacent to the Baltic Sea in the city of Sopot. Sopot officials agreed with the Polish state railway regarding a new investment. In general, both actors admitted that the area around the station in Sopot is unsightly and poorly developed. This area was built several dozens of years ago and it’s not a unique attraction point for Sopot city. The major problems were the underdevelopment and deprived railway station built in the 1970s and the infrastructure is overloaded with traffic. See Figure 1, the old Sopot railway station built in the 70s.
According to the consortium, formed to develop this area, the Polish State Railway sold two plots to the Sopot city council and exchanged 6 more plots for the urban regeneration of the new railway station. The consortium is formed by three parties the Polish State Railway, the Sopot City Council, and the Baltic Investment Group. This urban regeneration and architecture project is the first European investment in the public-private partnership formula, implemented under the EU Jessica repayable program. Based on this agreement, the private partner built a hotel, commercial facilities, and parking lots, which it will own, a road system with a roundabout and green areas, which it handed over to the city of Sopot, as well as a new railway station, which is handed over to PKP SA through the city.
In this urban regeneration and architecture, the consortium has overcome the main two elements and barriers to development Land ownership, and Funding.
The urban regeneration included the demolition of the former train station and the building of a new one a few meters away. The urban regeneration and architecture of this project concept included making a stripped façade on the railway side with a new and modern entrance to the railway station and another strip of masses along the roundabout and the main street subject of development. The roundabout diverts some of the traffic to adjacent roads and absorbs some of the traffic going to the shopping mall in the underground parking. The welcoming urban design and architecture of this project through creating a pathway of landscape between the development and two large squares of open space in form of rectangular shape. This open space gives access and an open façade to the shopping center, offices in the two-story building strip, shops on the ground floor, and the hotel at the far end. See Figure 2, the site plan of the urban regeneration and architecture of the Sopot railway station project.
Figure 3 shows the external photo of the project from the railway side and its development change. The strip façade is mainly a closed one with strip windows that give continuity to the train line passing except at the main entrance.
In Figure 4 the photo shows the roundabout side where it was developed to fit the new traffic to the development area and its connection to the development and the railway station entrance from underground parking.
At the ground level, the urban development and architecture of this project include the strip shops along the created open space and landscape with external sitting areas. From the roundabout entrance to the underground parking is the block of a 3-story shopping area and service center for the railway station, and the public library (Near sections a, and b in the plan). See Figure 5 the ground floor plan of the urban regeneration and architecture of Sopot railway station.
On the first-floor plan, the left side of the plan shows the library area and the remaining shopping area of the shopping center. In the middle part of the plan is the strip of offices that opens on top of the arcade created on the ground floor with an open terrace. The office area includes an open in between open garden landscape for light, view, and ventilation for the offices. The right side of the plan is the location of the hotel building and its connection to the development with its facilities and car park entry. See Figure 6, the first-floor plan of Sopot railway station development.
The second-floor plan shows the upper floors of the library on the left side with the remaining facilities of the service center and shops. The middle part shows the open terraces between the offices and the bridge connection. On the right-side end are the upper parts of the hotel building with its functional layout. See Figure 7, the second-floor plan of the Sopot railway station development.
The section shows the silhouette of the land of this urban regeneration and architecture project, the connection by escalators from the ground and underground to all floors to the service center and shopping area, and the connection of the underground parking to all levels of the development. See Figure 8, section B-B through the development and the roundabout area.
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