The urban arteries

The urban arteries
Nina C George
The tender for four of the six stations have been frozen and the tenders for the other two stations will be through in two months.

Architects of the six metro stations in the City — M G Road, Ulsoor station, Byappanahalli, C M H Road, Trinity Circle and Old Madras Road — have laid stress in giving Bangalore a futuristic makeover. Each of them have sought to make their creations symptomatic of the urbane feel that the City exudes.

Each of the designs tell a new story. While the Trinity Circle station has been designed to resemble a cocoon, the idea that the metro tracks are urban arteries and the station itself is a place of transition is the idea behind the Ulsoor design. The M G Road station was designed to reflect the ethos and changing phase of the City’s landmark. It took nothing less than two months or more for the architects to come up with designs that were quintessentially Bangalore.

The tender for four of the six stations have been frozen and the tenders for the other two stations will be through in two months.

Chief Engineer, Design and Contracts, BMRCL N P Sharma says each of the structures were meant to be light in keeping with up to date technology. Safety measures have been incorporated into the design elements. He says all the stations have provision to evacuate passengers within 45 seconds of any accident. The material used to construct the stations, the doors and windows are fire resistant, says Mr Sharma.

Metrolife has delved into the design, challenges and cost of three of the six stations. Here is an indepth view of the Ulsoor, M G Road and the Trinity Circle stations.

'Metromorphosis' at Trinity Circle

Zachariah Consultants were inspired by the BMRCL Logo. They felt the continuous movement could be translated into the physical form and that's how the Trinity Circle station took the form of a cocoon that signifies continuous movement, transition and fluidity. Itty Zachariah and Abhay Itty Zachariah, thought that they must take on the challenge of envisioning public spaces which are receptive to pluralism and possibilities.

Abhay says given the various constraints, the planning called for the station to be spanned across the width of road and hence the visual impact of the structure would be limited from the sides. "Hence our aim was to give equal importance to what we would like to call the five level elevation — that being the roof structure and the visual impact that the same would have from both the existing and future development that surrounds the neighbourhood. In an abstract form, the main body of structure represents a cocoon through which the trains pass. The trains would pass through a constrained space at both ends and the volume gradually increasing along with the skylight, until the trains come to a halt," reasons Abhay. This design strategy embodies a comprehensive blending of programme, structure and skin into a fluid thickness that is capable of responding tactically to zoning and efficiency. The design plan took exactly two months and is to cost anywhere around Rs 30 crore.

M G Road station
There were a lot of apprehensions about the metro rail on M G Road. The metro would first of all take away the boulevard and distort a landmark in the City. The architects too had to work hard to strike a balance between utility and aesthetics more so when the metro is to run through an area that is a landmark of the city.
M G Road might never look the same again, but it will be better and brighter, assures Naresh Narashiman of M/s Venkatraman and Associates who have designed the M G Road station.

"The station is an 'Urban Insert' in the M G Road precincts and will be hemmed in between the boulevard on one side and the theatre on the other. The existing raised promenade will be transformed to form a part of the station design. As one moves along the existing elevated pedestrian pathway, the landscape berm would gradually guide one into the station entrance. The grass berm has been maintained with the berm being the roof of the entry level to the station," explains Naresh.

The station can physically be divided into the North and South platform. The north station is at a 14 metre level above the M G Road, while the plaza theatre will be the south platform.

The movement of people from various levels of the station to the platform levels are through transit tubes, which are essentially escalators that spring out from the main structure. These two platforms are connected by glass enclosed skywalks at an eight metre level and 14 metre platform level.

The upper part of the building above South Platform is proposed to be a transport museum called dynamo. “This would house flexible interior display systems where one could create and alter internal spaces, display and circulation paths constantly, thereby providing the feeling of fluidity and innovation at every visit for every user” says Naresh and adds, “this will be topped off by a cafe on the terrace.”

Ulsoor station

The basic plan of the Ulsoor station was designed by RITES, a government based company. M/s RSP
Planners, Architects, Engineers Pvt Ltd, stepped in at a later phase to spruce up the design. According to Arun Jad Singh Balla,chief RSP Planners, this station was designed to be a break in the journey, a transitory place that has the potential for emerging as a strong urban element, forming and informing its context.

"Bangalore is poised to be a metropolis of the future. The metro project presents an opportunity for creating a futuristic aesthetic across the varied context of the evolving cityscape," reasons Arun.

Arun explains the stairs, escalators and the lifts are visualised as extensions of the streets into the station. Vertical tube elements articulated onto the lift shafts, form cardinal points in space, and are designed as 'beacons' of high visibility both 'announcing' the station and assisting in spatial orientation.

“The station envelope consists of three tubes, curved at the edges and rotated along its longitudinal axis with a random arrangement of strips of glazed openings which are suggestive of motion. The openings provide for the light and shadows that change with time and season," he says. The designers had to go through their own set of challenges and seem to have hit roadblocks with metronomic regularity.

"There are temples, old and new all along the stretch and the minarets of a nearby mosque are prominently visible on the skyline. The older markets with its low tiled roofs and congested pedestrian arcades are as much a part of the streetscape as the whistle clean glazed facades and manicured shopfronts of Lido mall," explains Arun.

He adds, "In such a context the station had to address issues of multiplicity, temporality and identity. The challenge was to be subtle as well as distinct, yet not miss the opportunity of creating a futuristic aesthetic." It took not less than 10 weeks to complete the design of this station and is slated to cost around Rs 30 crore.