3.Al-khor Train Station

A Naturally Ventilated Station in the Heart of the Desert

Design Studio | Fall - Winter 2020 With: Ahmad Ramezanzadeh Tutor: Bruno Peeters

Al-Khor, Qatar

This studio was about proposing a design for the planned train station in the city of Al-Khor, Qatar. Qatar will be the host of 2022 FIFA world cup and the city of Al-Khor is the home to one of the stadiums. Therefore, the city plans to add a train station to its infrastructure to move visitors between cities.

Al khor central station is an attempt to create a truly sustainable train station that not only lowers its environmental impact to a minimum, but also benefits its city and surroundings. The design highlights a slanted roof and three openings through the site, in order to facilitate natural ventilation. Through the vents and air intakes, we were able to direct air through the station and create a pleasant environment in a hot climate like Qatar’s, without using any electrical energy. The roof is slanted in a way that as well as taking in cool breezes coming from the sea, it prevents hot winds which potentially carry a sand storm from the south west to enter the station. Through the building, All the transportation from and to the station happen in the inside, providing a seamless experience and protecting users from the heat at all times.

This project was designed in a group of two. Concept development, as well as the initial design were done by both members. In the second chapter, My groupmate was in charge of designing the station in Sketchup, and I took the responsibility of analyzing wing behavior and optimizing the natural ventilation. In order to do so, I created a model of the building and its openings in Autodesk Revit, and the analyses were carried out in Autodesk CFD. The model for the section below was created in Sketchup.

Left, CFD simulations, Normal Condition:

In order to maximize the passive ventilation efficiency, I used the Combination of Autodesk Revit and Autodesk CFD in order to simulate different airflow scenarios through the building.

With the help of these simulations, the optimum number of air intakes and exists, the shape of the openings and the roof slope, as well as the internal vents were calculated. In the final version visible on the left, 21 sections are shown from the width of the station, indicating how air passes through the building during a normal day, with a sea breeze entering the station through the main entrance and the two openings in front (visible on the right side of the sections), and exiting from the openings on the roof and in the back (visible on the left side of the sections).

Also, in order to cool down the lowest level where the train passes, a vent was added in the bus station area. Due to the negative pressure created by the smaller openings in the roof and the back of the station, the vent is able to take air in from the two

Right, Hand sketch:

These sketches show the earliest stages of the design, as we were trying to create an airflow path through the station while trying to ventilate all areas equally. openings in the left, pass it over a small pool placed on the lowest floor and blow the cool breeze into the waiting area.

Top, CFD simulations, Storm Condition:

In an event of a sandstorm, the air exit in the back of the building and the openings on the roof, as well as intakes in the front will close up.

This way, air circulation will stop within the station in the duration of the storm. The roof is designed in a way that in these circumstances, the sandstorm will pass over it and as a result, there will be no need to fully close the entrance.

It was important to keep the enterance as open as possible since in normal conditions we needed to maximize airflow and, naturally, that area was our biggest intake.