benngiles: High Speed Rail, Newcastle, Australia

High Speed Rail

High Speed Rail was the second semester project for fourth year Masters of Architecture.

Site Data

A detailed context model will be provided for this project and you are to situate your model within this. This is a very flat part of the city, and so for the purposes of this design exercise, you can assume it to be flat.

Site Area (Fixed) 49 100 SQM
Site Area (block A) 8 800 SQM
Site Area (block B) 8 400 SQM

High speed rail requirements

The most important programmatic criteria is the provision of a station for a VFT service that will connect Newcastle with Sydney and Canberra to the south and Williamtown Airport to the North. This line will eventually connect to Brisbane and Melbourne, dramatically reshaping the transit options along the Eastern Coastline of Australia. The development will become a new gateway to the city, linking with bus and light-rail routes and providing a departure point for the city. As a result, the development needs to have an urban presence which can accommodate the needs of mass-transit and the number of passengers that need to move through the building each day.The requirements of the high-speed rail are very specific and will place a number of restrictions on this project. You will need to provide a 700m straight platform in each direction and the associated access, circulation and ticketing requirements. The rail line will sit a minimum of 10m below the existing level of Hunter Street and so you will need to ensure secure pedestrian access to this space as well as a well-designed and efficient entry and drop-off point. There will be four tracks through the centre of Newcastle. There will be outbound and inbound ‘stopping’ tracks and outbound and inbound through tracks. The tracks will be the international standard rail gauge of 1435mm which is used throughout NSW. The station may be two or three levels:

platform level.
passenger processing level with ticketing, waiting, retail, food/beverage, and security.
A third level (which may be street level) which would include drop-off/pickup, transport interchange, ticketing for buses, waiting, shops, connection to Wickham and a connection to parking and taxis (this level could be integrated with the passenger processing level).

It is important to provide lift access to all levels of the train station as well as consideration for people travelling with luggage. It is essential to provide waiting areas, departure lounges and restaurants as well as a large gathering space and departure hall where arrival and departure information can be displayed. As in airports all passengers will be security screened. There will be magnetometers and the requirement for bag search. It is expected that the station will also have tourist information offices as well as a large travel office. You should assume that 700 people will arrive and depart every hour from the station.This development will be both a new gateway to Newcastle and an important transport interchange. There will requirements for:

Connection to Wickham terminal station
Bus station with two platforms allowing the simultaneous loading of six buses
Taxi station with a platform allowing simultaneous loading of 12 taxis.
Pedestrian movement to Hunter St, Honeysuckle and Wheeler Place.

A parking station of 200 cars should be convenient to the station or could be colocated with the station.

Commercial Office Space

The rail corridor link to Sydney and Brisbane will make Newcastle a more attractive destination for business. The city currently lacks prestigious and contemporary office space. In order to provide the revenue and make this development feasible, you are required to provide 70 000 sqm of commercial office space, suitable to be leased to corporations of all sizes and requirements. You should provide a minimum of 1500 sqm of usable office area per floor, well serviced by high-quality lifts with efficient corelayouts. The office space will need to be accessible from ground level business lobbies. You should provide flexible floor-plates and give a consideration to the depth and height of the spaces and volumes you are creating in order to maximise their value. Workplace and commercial analysis has revealed that very large floor plates (above 2000 sqm) are not as useful as the connection of two towers by bridges. This allows 3000 sqm where required which can then revert to two 1500sqm floors if the market changes. Lifts are most efficient over 12 floors. The connection of towers at the 12th floor and the provision of public space at this level provides a new and more social typology of office towers. While there is no specific height limit, it is expected that the commercial office space will not exceed 24 stories and will take into account overshadowing and the urban context in its design and allocation.

School of Business

In the last State election, the City Campus of the University of Newcastle received bipartisan support and funds have been committed from both State and Federal governments. The University is central to the revitalisation of the CBD and the provision of a new high-speed rail network provides an important opportunity to strengthen its links to the city. The first stage of the “city-campus” project will be the relocation of the School of Business. In April 2010 the University called for Expressions of Interest in regard to this project on a site donated by the State government. It received 15 responses. The VFT terminal creates an opportunity to rethink the siting of this building and allow the university to be linked with this important urban renewal. The School of Business will need to establish a visual presence for the university within the city and become the front-door for the university’s relocated campus. The building will cater to 2500 students, many of whom study in the evenings while pursuing daytime employment. The building is to include: one large lecture theatre (600 students), three smaller lecture theatres (150 students), 10 flexible teaching spaces, student areas, associated study spaces, a specialist library, administrative office space and individual offices for 60 academics. The building will need to provide 18 000 sqm of usable floor area in total, including circulation and social spaces.

Schematic