In Beijing’s Tongzhou district, AREP delivers a multimodal hub that merges intelligent lightweight structures, photovoltaic systems, and urban green corridors.

The Tongzhou transport hub is located in the Yangtuo region  in the Tongzhou district (Beijing), within a triangle formed  by the Sixth East Ring Road, the North Canal and the existing Beijing-Harbin railway line. The design not only expresses the essence of Beijing's traditional architectural elements, but also incorporates the "urban forest" concept by connecting to and integrating the surrounding urban green space to carve out a new ecological identity for this secondary hub. The design of the station's main roof evokes a combination of "sails". Seven small sails are laid out on the south-facing side of the main roof combined with the public realm and the retail outlets below. The space under the roof features "light bubbles" that illuminate the underground space.

The plan aims to reclaim the land for the city by creating a traffic-calmed corrido throughout the area and by providing connections throughout the city to maximise the site's accessibility. The intelligent building concept revolves around lightweight structures embedded with green technologies, such as wind corridors, water systems and photovoltaic panels, to provide the best climate conditions for the buildings and create a new model  of eco-friendly station. The garden-like station is flanked by the central green space to the west and the Sixth Ring Park to the east, on the ecological thoroughfare of the central zone. The seven floatingsails run through and protect the green thoroughfare  from sunlight, thereby forming an urban park that extends  both inside and outside the station and creating a vibrant, multi-dimensional space.

AREP Group's mission:

Concept Design of the station, roof, interior spaces and urban development around the station

Environmental metrics and solutions – EMC2B:

Energy

•  Roof components allowing to save 486,000 kWh / year of electricity for artificial lihting

•   Regulation of heat absorption and maximisation of natural light by using a sun shading system installed on the roof to reduce the heat load by 5,200,000 kWh / year

•  Lo  wer ETFE roof height allowing to save electricity consumption  for heating

•  21,000 sqm of photovoltaic panels

Materials

•  Use of ETFE for a lightweight structure

Carbon

•   Optimisation of the structure to reduce the quantity of steel and thereby the carbon footprint of the project

Climate

•  Improvement of thermal comfort through natural ventilation

Boodiversity  

•  Roof accommodating a park with local tree and plant species