Serving as a new gateway to Mainland China, the new section of the Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong high-speed rail service, which is 142 km in length, connects with the National High-speed Rail network all the way to Beijing, the length of which is more than 25,000 km. The Hong Kong West Kowloon Station has a strong civic element, acting as a new landmark with an immediate sense of arrival, fit for the site’s prominence on Victoria Harbour immediately adjacent to the future West Kowloon Cultural District. The station is the first major construction project to complete in that district.
Andrew Bromberg’s design of the station introduces over 3 hectares of ‘green plaza’ to the site. The outside ground plane bows down towards the entrance, whilst the roof structure above gestures towards the sky. The resulting space is a 45-meter high volume, whose energy and focus are directed towards the south façade, Hong Kong Central skyline and Victoria Peak beyond.
People are furthermore encouraged to walk up on the station’s rooftop, aligned with mature trees and shrubs and enjoy the new views and gain new connections with the city. The curved ceiling is made of over 8,000 tonnes of steel which is almost the weight of the Eiffel Tower. The interior of the hall is almost like a forest, with leaning steel columns supporting a giant floating roof and lifting up 4,000 glass panels to bring in natural daylight into the building, and, a glimpse of the city even from the lower levels of the station.
