Tübingen is a traditional university town in central Baden-Württemberg, and the train station and the projected Radstation in Europaplatz is a strategic point of connection with a wider regional network and within the city. In extension to the train station, the Radstation and café act as a points of meeting, a place for a short pause, a technical area for bicycle and parking and toilets, and as well offers a point of view on the landscape, lake and station.
As such, the circular form creates a simple and pure volume that “connects”. It acts as a concentration point and generates radially. The minimalist circular construction is not only a metaphor of the wheel, but it is an urban signal that can be clearly identified.
The regular vertical timber façade frame is combined with a light dynamic ribbon structure with translucent fabric suggest a vortex that move up and down according to the main building access. This minimum filigramme identity fabricates a new icon together with the existing building landscapes. It aims at being a totally integrated project within the landscape and be defined as a lightweight as possible, changing identity between day and night.
The main functional programmes are divided by the main ramp to the lower basement, and integrate the necessary function to the whole dynamic and geometry. Toilet facilities, bike parking facilities, workshop, information and technical areas are working well together with the cafes, terraces and restoration areas, so that each part is well identified and operates efficiently with a good orientation in space for the visitors.
The green landscape and hard landscaping surfaces are integrated in the whole project to make a graphical and comfortable promenade along the building. The existing sitting steps are considered in the design and changed accordingly to fit the whole dynamic.
