Atkins has revealed the final design of Nairobi’s new Central Railway Station and public realm. The project extends the historic station building, one of the city’s first stone structures, to raise its capacity to over 30,000 passengers per hour. The new additions take inspiration from the past, referencing the “Boma,” a community enclosure rooted in the heritage of central African culture. Built for flexibility and adaptability, the new station aims to become a key functional facility within the city, providing its citizens with amenities, landscape, and respite.
The station takes the shape of two fan-like structures. The Boma-inspired canopies reach far beyond the constraints of the station itself, thus extending over the public space surrounding the station. This concept of “big roof, small station” was developed in response to the expected passenger growth. This way, the spaces are prioritized in favor of open, public areas rather than ticketed and passenger areas. One of the advantages of this concept is the increased flexibility of the station, allowing the public realm to expand during passenger peak times.
The project understands the station as more than a transportation hub. Besides managing the access to the railway, the station also incorporates a new retail center, covered public space with access to local planting and biophilia, and meeting areas where people can get together, socialize, and share their experiences. The concept underlining the design is flexibility. A network of spaces creates connections across the site, ensuring that a significant number of people can move safely to and from the station, interchange, or cross the precinct.
As behaviors, processes, or expectations change, the station building is conceived to have the ability to adapt too. Therefore an efficient, direct layout was our starting point for the operational planning. A generous, democratic space at the heart of the city, the station precinct will provide a unique, open, welcoming place protected from but connected to the city beyond. - Chris Crombie, design director of Atkins.
The Nairobi Railway City and Central Station is part of a larger project to redevelop 425 acres of central Nairobi. Across the world, more and more cities are understanding the importance of developing sustainable transportation systems. Recently, the EU has adopted several proposals that put the transport sector in track for a 90% reduction in carbon emissions. Furthermore, various cities have been experimenting with wavering fees for public transport in an effort to promote sustainable mobility, alleviate traffic congestion and decrease social inequality.
