Can a station connect two halves of a city?
Assen Station Area
The new Assen station building is the most eye-catching element of the area development aimed at improving accessibility and supporting the city’s growth. De Zwarte Hond developed the FlorijnAs masterplan study, followed by the urban design for the station area. In collaboration with Powerhouse Company, De Zwarte Hond designed the new station building, which forms the spectacular final piece of this transformation. The ensemble of brick, wood and glass reflects the character of the Drenthe capital. With spatial simplicity, the new station creates a grand entrance to the city — this is Assen’s new front door.
The triangular station roof completely spans the newly expanded railway line and thus fulfils a key role in connecting eastern and western city districts. The complex transport flows of the station square have been resolved with a new platform tunnel for pedestrians, the restoration and shortening of the existing bicycle tunnel, a car tunnel and an underground bicycle parking garage for 2,600 bicycles. This has created a pedestrian-friendly station area with a high-quality green design, minimal impact from cars and a pleasant human scale. The 3,000 m² roof is made entirely of wood. This is unique: the first time in the Netherlands that a railway line has been bridged in wood.
data
- Location
- Assen, NL
- Size
- 3.015 m²
- Client
- Gemeente Assen, ProRail, NS
- Discipline
- Architecture, Urban Design
- Program
- Master Planning, Public Buildings
- Period
- 2014-2020
- Status
- Completed
- Photography
- Sebastian van Damme, Egbert de Boer, Harry Cock, Marcel Ijzerman
- Partners
- Heko, Jan Piet van der Weele, Hegerman Bouw en Infra, Breed Integrated Design, Ingenieursbureau Miebach, Pontico, Harry Munnik, Powerhouse Company
- Awards (3)
-
- THE PLAN Awards
Transport - Drenthe Architecture Prize
Jury Prize - BNA Best Building of the Year
People's Choice Award
- THE PLAN Awards
- themes
Assen
Assen Station Area
Strategic renewal of Assen’s station area
The importance of the Drenthe region’s capital in the major axis between Groningen and Assen is increasing, and its position in the network towards Zwolle is becoming more influential. Good anchoring in the Northern Netherlands urban transport network is essential in order to be able to fully exploit this new prominence. For this, it was essential to renew the station and the station area..
FlorijnAs master plan study
Variant study: ‘Sloping Square’ versus ‘Short Tunnel’
From vision to connection
De Zwarte Hond first made the FlorijnAs master plan study and later the urban plan for the station area. The aim was to create good accessibility for all modalities, while also building a bridge between the two parts of the city, on both sides of the railway.
In a variant study, two models were considered: ‘Sloping Square’ and ‘Short Tunnel’. The second model was chosen, in which car traffic disappears from ground level on the station square.
This is Assen’s new front door
A bridge between city and tracks
The new station building – designed in collaboration with Powerhouse Company – forms the spectacular final part of the area development. The station is defined by a triangular roof that connects the different programmatic parts of the station, and which literally and figuratively bridges the physical barrier that the tracks form through the city.
