The Department of Infrastructure and Transport, through its Management Body, held a competition to develop a tram stop prototype for the Alicante tram system. The proposal presented by our firm was among those selected and greatly appreciated for its quality, viability, flexibility and its technical and economic rationale.
As a result of this success, we were commissioned to build the new Palmaret metro station in Alboraya and develop the area in the immediate vicinity.
The Municipality of Alboraya had long been suffering the consequences of a public transport underground rail line which ceased to be underground before reaching the town and, upon surfacing, divided its territory into two halves.
The need arose to build two metro stations, at the beginning and end of the municipality, in addition to the tunnel connecting them. The first one, that closest to Valencia, was to be constructed next to the old Palmaret station, built on the surface, which would stop working once the new underground station opened.
Between the old and the new stations, we dug a large park with an area of about 6,000 m². This great void allowed us to introduce natural light down on to the platform located underground, through large windows.
This effect, together with the simplicity of the traffic pattern achieved inside the station, meant that users, whether regular or sporadic, when getting off the train, could clearly appreciate the space in which they found themselves and thus exit the station easily.
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We did not know what to do, but we DID know what NOT to do. We did not want to create a station in which a passenger, getting off the subway and stepping onto the platform, feels the usual disorientation that occurs when you do not know how to get outside and are looking for some absurd arrows to guide you through labyrinthine corridors to the exit.
Suddenly, we saw it all clearly. We wanted to bring natural light below ground so that, when leaving the train, passengers would see the sun guiding them to the exterior.
