Currently, 150.000 travellers and 40.000 passers-by frequent The Hague Central Station daily. It is expected that this number will double in the next decade due to a link to the highspeed network, on the Amsterdam to Brussels and Paris trajectory, and the connection to the light rail system, Randstadrail. The new public transport terminal, as an element of the public space of the station district, was the key element in this urban development. The existing train station, built in the 1970’s amidst the largest concentration of office towers in the Dutch seat of government, has been transformed into a state of the art multi-modal transit terminal. It has become an integrated hub where all of the city’s public transport lines converge.

The building’s volume is clear and transparent, with a four-sided orientation, avoiding dead ends or back sides. The various modes of transport are visible at one glance from the main hall, a large indoor square. Full-height glass facades and the glazed roof create impeccable transparency. At about 120 metres long, 96 metres wide and 22 metres tall, the terminal counts four entrances, three from the adjacent streets on ground level, one from the bus and tram platform above the railway tracks. The diagrid structure of the glass roof stabilises the rectangular hall volume. The canopy is composed of diamond- shaped roof cupolas on a web of criss-crossing eaves with integrated lighting. The patterned roof produces a spectacular play of shadows, resembling the effect of lush sycamore trees.