INTERMODAL
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(Un)Productive Landscapes FabrĂcio Carvalho
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The present work is one of the outcome projects of (Un)Productive Landscapes - a course in the master program in architecture of Bergen Arkitekthøyskole held during the fall semester of 2017. Format: A4 Fonts: Garamond Pro, Helvitca Neue and Interstate Pages: 33
Content
Introduction
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Context
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Planning
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Site 1 - Oddahagen
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Forus East Station
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Site 2 - Kopphalen
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Forus West Station
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Conclusion
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Introduction
Forus Næringspark is a bussiness and industrial conglomeration which employs 40 thousand people in Nord Jæren. Massive office buildings sitted far apart from each other are surrounded by shopping malls, express roads and parking spaces. A car based environment. Facing long distances trips and lack of public transport services, 80% of the workers use their private cars every day. Commuting in Forus is often synonym of traffic jams. Municipalities and companies are aware of the unviability of this outdated vision of modernity. The aim of this project is, then, to be a infrastructurual background towards a more mixed and more pedestrian-based area. Thus, three proposals are made: a light rail line connecting Jaerbanen to Sola Airport - going through Naerigspark - and two new stations, on Forus East and Forus West. With these two actions it is predicted that employees currently labeled “Forus hostages” - have a competitive alternative for commuting and access different areas of Nord Jæren without the exigency of a car. The light rail line will also help to connect the airport to Sola, Sandnes and Stavanger’s city centers. Moreover, on the context of new masterplans or zoning laws in a near future, inhabitants of the area will have better disponibility of public transport and local poles of activities near the stations. The biggest challenges for the implementation of the project are: the financing, since the three involved municipalities are currently in debt - hence needing investiments in regional and national level; and the concreteness of the plans against the present tendency of shrinking bussinesses. Finally, as in any infrastructure work, local companies and users will temporary be facing detours, disturbance and change.
Context
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Representing roughly 20% of norwegian GDP, Forus was once the haven for big companies and industries. That led, invariably, to a specific type of uban layout that serves an specific purpose - which is not confortable or even efficient for pedestrians and shortdistance trips. Now, with the closure and shrinking of several bussinesses it is even a less human based environment. Under this context, both public and private actors have developed proposals to shift Forus towards a more dense, mixed-use and sustainable future. Also, new housing masterplans along Gandafjorden integrate the mobility system in Nord JĂŚren. Considering combining potentional changes, in a 20 to 50 years time spam, this region can gain around 2000 inhabitants and 3500 employees and be connected with key new areas - University Hospital and Dale community.
1 New Stavanger University Hospital
7000 employees
2 Dale masterplan 15000 inhabitants
3 Nortura masterplan
1000 inhabitants and 2500 employess
4 Flasketorget
New workplaces and public use
5 Koppholen
New wordplaces and public use
6 Kanalsletta
New worksplaces and public use
7 IKDP plan 0542
Intention to connect Sola center to Forus with public transport
8 IKDP plan 2008315 1000 inhabitants
9 Forussletta Sør
New workplaces and public use
Plans for Forus area Constructions
Context Plan | 1:20 000
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7
1
2 6 5
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3
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9
Planning
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Taking into account all these plans, it is possible to conect some of them and trace an arc that almost crosses the mainland from one fjord to the other. That is set to be the first stretch of the light rail line, starting with a connection to the railway, going through Forus NÌringspark and ending in Sola Airport. That way, a new direction of public transport is set in oposition to the mostly north-south bus lines. Also, this horizontal line can be the backbone for expansions of the light rail system over Nord JÌren, making a more dense public transport tissue that connects all points of interests. The choice for light rail comes from three reasons. Firstly, when compared with an extension/detour of the railway, a light rail is much less impactul in the landscape (hence, cheaper) as only few land movements are required and it is more easily integrated with other transportation systems. The disadvantage is the need to change vehicles on one’s commute. And, while expand the bus lines is even easier to implement, the light rail passengers/vehicles ratio is bigger, and consequently the number of vehicles necessary is smaller - making it a more sustainable choice, specially considering new technologies for eletric trains. Another crucial point of this type of transport is its predictability. It is easy to coordinate departures and arrivals with the trains passing by every 15 minutes in each way. After placing the line, 4 stations are proposed for it, from which 2 designs are here presented. The first on the conection with the railway and the second by the canal in the middle of Forus West.
Sola Sentrum
Forus West
Forus East Airport
possibility
proposed train light rail gondola
Chosen sites Existing train station Proposed train station Proposed light rail station Possible light rail station Existing railway Proposed light rail line Possible light rail lines Predicted gondola
Planning Plan | 1:20 000
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Site 1 - Oddahagen
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The chosen site sits hidden today paired by a narrow path that goes along the railway and a steep hill of 5m height. And it is surrounded by medium-size warehouses and two big companies headquarters, Nortura and Fiskå Mølle. The first one is transfering its facilities, leaving a big area open for changes. In agreement with the munucipalitie’s intentions of densifying the plots along the fjord, Gilhardi+Hellsten Architects proposed a masterplan for after Nortura leaves. Considering this as the new surrondings, Forus East Station will then be placed right next to a dense mixed ude urban area, and be in service for those aproximatelly 3500 people. The car-free block and the public square ease the access to the plataforms and conform a continuous public way with the station. Also, the masterplan bears enough space for a parking lot and a maintance building for the light rails.
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Garage and maintance Existing buildings Nortura masterplan Car-free block
Site 1 Context Plan | 1:2000
1
East Station
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The design is mainly guided by two characteristics of the site. Firstly there’s the challenge to go over the steep hill to connect the two boarding plataforms (train and light rail), then, the existing building and warehouses limit how wide the train plataform and structure can be. A grid of 18x9 meters is set for a steel structure that covers the train plataform facilities. That way most of the transfer is protected by the rain and space for furniture and waiting can be improved. The two levels of the train side made of concrete molded on site, as well as the bridge conecting to the light rail plataforms, in such way that both sides share a common ground. For the covers, in the ceiling and walls, a wood frame fastenned to the structure holds translucent polycarbonate panels aiming to maximize use of daylight - saving energy - and expose the building construction principles. The light rail canopies respective the same constructive language, only in a smaller scale, more integrated to the urban tissue and less impactful on the landscape.
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B 0,00
1
1
A
A
B
1. Train boarding plataform 2. Lightrail boarding plataform
3. Bike parking
Forus East Station | Lower Plan | 1:500
B
3 0,00
+4,40
2
2
+4,40
A
A
B Forus East Station |Upper Plan | 1:500
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Detail | 1:25
Forus East Station | Section A | 1:200
Detail | 1:25
Forus East Station | Section B | 1:200
Site 2 - Koppholen
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As the rails go along the canal, where there is a path wide enough to fit the new vehicles and pedestrians, they approach a nodal point in West Forus: Tvedtsenteret. The large shopping mall marks the landscape and influences the transit of people and cars. With that in mind, the second station is positioned parallel to the rails and in front of Tvedtsenteret. Plus, a new street is going to be opened, adding a connection between the canal road and Forusbeen, so the buses can make a turn and head to the main roads of Forus West. Moreover, this area is part of Lala’s and Studio Løkeland’s studies to intervene in four sites of Forus. They made propositions to improve the number of workplaces and bring new programs to them. In these plans is also included a green path along the canal that ends up in an urban park. Thus, the placing of the station in both connected to a busy point of interest and a leisure area.
Existing buildings Lala’s proposed buildings Lala’s future proposed buildings Bus stops
Site 2 Context Plan | 1:2000
TVEDTSENTERET
TVEDTSENTERET
PARK
West Station
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Differently from the previsous one, this station only serves the light rail and hosts an administrative office. That way, the program is divided into public and private and consists in three volumes and two covers. All is oriented parallel to the canal and the rails, making it easy and direct to go to closest bus top, the path along the canal, the park or the main road. The building is positioned closer to the park, creating a recluse environment for the staff and pedestrians. Further, this frees the boulevard along the canal for passage of people and vehicles and estimulates movement and ocupation inside the block The boarding plataforms are next to the boulevard, covered, so users can access the building safe from the weather. Material wise, this design relates to the first one with juxtaposition of conceptions of light and heavy. Two concrete blocks for bathrooms and storage spaces sit 40 meters apart from each other. On that gap, 24 meters are designated for staff and tickets program. The 16 remaining meters are a open passage, aligned with the middle point of the boarding plataforms. A steel structure covers the hole gap, creating a covered square on the passage. Above the plataforms, a wood structure holds a translucent polycarbonate tilted ceiling. Pratically, this allows rain water capture that goes to a reservoir on the east side concrete block and then be used in the bathrooms. Metaforically, the wood structure behaves as a facade and the steep line of the roof directs the eye inside the open passage .
B
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5 5 4
3
2
5 6
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B
A
1. Lightrail boarding plataform 2. Waiting room / tickets / lockers
3. Office 4. Break room
5. Bathroom 6. Storage
7. Maintance 8. Water reservoir
7 5 6 5 8
1
1
A
Forus West Station | Plans | 1:200
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Detail | 1:25
Detail | 1:25
Forus West Station | Section A | 1:200
Forus West Station | Section B | 1:200
Conclusion
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Foreseeing new possibilities for industrial areas is one of the big challenges for today’s archictects and planners. The specific type of urbanization created by this use can lay a unproductive background for changes. Forus area is shrinking in number of employees and increasing its number of empty offices, so both municipalities and private sector seek for mixed-use areas and densification to mitigate this process and create a new landscape. Although, many of this ideas, specially to public transport, follow the current context and reproduce old thoughts - like increasing the number of buses going through E39 highway. So, the proposal of the light rail aims to bring two new ideas: a new kind of public transport, faster and more predictable than the bus, while cheaper and less impactful than the train; and a orthogonal conexion, from fjord to fjord. Finally, this project desires to be an example of a infrasctural plan as the backbone for changes in the landscape. By connecting it to on going plans, it reinforces them and open room for new ones.
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