Large budgets and huge amounts of energy are spent on the upgrading of major Dutch railway stations in Amsterdam, The Hague, Utrecht and Rotterdam. The efforts at creating quality environments related to public transport should not be limited to the station building itself. Only by paying attention to all public space surrounding the railway hubs, the promise of Transport Oriented Development will be kept alive. Maxwan’s plans for Rotterdam Central District put a lot of emphasis on the quality of that public space.

Next to the train station a new bus station is taking shape. It was assumed that the budget for this was too limited to consider anything but standard bus shelters. Maxwan proposed to the client that even within a small budget, signature canopies could be designed and constructed.

The result is a series of remarkable table-shaped canopies, nicknamed pillow and hammock. Each table consists of a 5 x 10 meter razor-thin roof placed on steel columns in a way that makes waiting for the bus an unexpected experience. The tables, treated with a skin tone finish, are warped, silk-gloss surfaces that conjure up images of suspended cloth and wind-blown sails, despite their weighing 5 tonnes each.