The project was conceived with the objective of creating an interchange facility and hub for medium- and long-distance passenger car transport, combining modern services for passenger reception and information with high-value, architecturally and technologically advanced interventions. The current state of bus stops in Catania, moreover, allows us to imagine that an organised and modern bus station could also be an element of attraction for current carriers and make bus traffic from the provinces of south-eastern and western Sicily flow into it, significantly contributing to decongestion of the city and improving the quality of services for operators and users. The proximity of the new bus station, placed in direct relation with the future underground and railway station, and indirectly with the airport, and the availability of parking, allows this node to be considered as an interchange HUB capable of rationalising the mobility system, increasing the quality of service, safety and reducing the impact on traffic and pollution.
Our Intervention
The characterising element is the central building with its large roof, the intrados of which is clad with aluminium slats sublimated with a wood effect to ensure a sensation of warmth and comfort to the eye, linking the exterior and interior spaces of the entire intervention. The tapered edges reduce its apparent mass, giving a sense of lightness to the structure that seems to rise from the surrounding car park. The result is an ensemble that is both imposing and light, created by trying to minimise the number and size of the columns. The volumes of direct and indirect services are all glazed. This contributes to perceptual continuity, allowing the landscape to integrate with the bus station, and increases safety by limiting closed areas. The space underneath the canopy rises gracefully over a vast waiting and service area, through which natural light penetrates the entire depth of the canopy thanks to the perforations made along its central space. The project envisages the construction of a canopy with an area of about 130×26 ml, supported by pillars with a pitch of about 9.50 ml and a height of about 5ml; on the extrados of the canopy there is a green roof that extends from the edges of the canopy to the slope, while the remaining finishes are imagined in aluminium panels. Underneath the canopy there are two bodies destined to support services for the modal interchange structure: - to the west, with a surface area of approximately 200 square metres and a height of approximately 5.5m, it houses the waiting room sized to accommodate a capacity of approximately 200 people with more than 100 seats, the ticket office, the management offices and the toilets with access from outside – to the east, with a surface area of approximately 230.00 m2 and a height of approximately 6m, is dedicated to the refreshment service, with toilets, kitchen area and a possible sales area. Another distinguishing feature of the project is the possibility of an underground connection with the future Metro station and the new RFI stop, consisting of an underground tunnel that will connect with the planned structure and will be located after crossing the equipped axis with the Metro station. The tunnel will be about 60 metres long and will end under the canopy where there will be a staircase connecting with the surface. This will allow passengers to interconnect with other modes of transport with covered passages and without conflict with the road system. An elevated footpath is also planned to allow the disabled to reach the other stations.
Technical Pills
The station is sized for an expected number of passengers of about 200 and will host, in terms of functionality and the vehicles that will be housed there:
No. 25 bus parking bays
No. 8 electric car charging bays
No. 16 car sharing bays
No. 20 bike sharing bays
Object of intervention
Modal interchange facility for bus terminal with the rail mobility system – Parking Fontanarossa
Performances – Stancanelli Russo Associati
Winner of the design competition
Technical-Economic Feasibility Design: drafted and delivered
Final and Executive Designs and Safety
Coordination during the design phase: in the contracting phase
Client
Municipality of Catania
Partners
One Works spa, Comma Engineering scarl, CLA studio ass., Ing. M. Pennisi, geol. S.Palillo
Year
design start 2022
Design technology
Building Information Modeling (BIM)
