Stephanie Tabb

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The Rail Transit Ribbon Park Station will be the heart of the new Central Business District. It is at the intersection of two main subway stations, the crossroad of open space, and the focal point of 5 landmark towers. The Skylight Plaza allows for pedestrian circulation from all directions to flow around the Pavilion and provides spaces for small performances, art installations and seasonal activities and holidays.

design Principles

The skylight design is a fusion of three key design principles: place, program, and systems.

• Place is the connection to the city’s culture, and the integration with the new Central Business District Masterplan and Ribbon Park landscape.

• Program aims to enhance the passenger experience.

• Systems is the optimization of structure, sustainable design, and building maintenance.

program

The subway station skylight measures 41.5 meters in diameter and has an impact on the passenger experience at multiple levels. At the ground level, the skylight sits at the base of the great meadow event lawn in the center of Ribbon Park. At the subway station level, the skylight provides a connection to the park and towers above, and also helps guide pedestrians moving through the transit hall.

concept design and citywide voting

Through multiple design reviews with the client and local experts, SOM determined four initial concept design options. To increase public engagement, the City Planning Bureau publicized these four unique design options and sponsored a citywide public vote.

OPTION 1 - LOTUS BLOSSOM

The Lotus Blossom scheme is a skylight with a structural grid that is inspired by the city’s flower. At the park level, the skylight rises 8 meters. Its low scale feels like part of the topography and allows visitors to discover it as they explore the park. As the skylight meets the ground there is a seat wall and terraced plazas, which enhance the visitor experience. The dome is 20 meters tall on the interior and is supported by columns that create portals and have integrated LED screens for convenient wayfinding.

OPTION 2 - SPRING EFFLUX

The Spring Efflux scheme is inspired by the famous Baotu Spring in the City of Springs, and the skylight is formed by an ascending curved geometry rising out of the ground. At the park level, the skylight rises 15 meters. Its scale balances a sense of verticality with the horizontality of the park. The skylight meets the ground with a solid transition that integrates benches with the plaza while expressing the organic geometric pattern. Around central skylight in the spring form, landscape elements in the forms of willow leaves flow smoothly through the central plaza and into the rest of the Ribbon Park. The dome provides interior space up to 27 meters tall. The inverse geometry of a dome is formed by the curving members linked by a series of concentric rings, and supported by a rigid oculus beam at the apex, V-shaped columns below. The oculus at the top draws the visitor’s view toward the sky, creating a dramatic interior experience.

OPTION 3 - LOTUS LEAF

The Lotus Leaf scheme is abstracted from the dancing form of the lotus leaf. It provides a vibrant and lofty space for the subway transfer hall, it offers canopies and backdrops for the event lawn, and it serves as the focal point for the tall buildings surrounding it. The intersecting arched members create an efficient folding surface with four discrete strengthened support points and four open windows, rising 24 meters above the park level. The form reaches out from the skylight base, creating overhangs that shelter the areas below. The large vertical windows create backdrop for the public plazas and event lawn.

OPTION 4 - WATER REBOUND

The Water Rebound scheme is inspired by the beauty and energy a water droplet hitting the tranquil surface of the Daming Lake. The dramatic height and uplifting form of the skylight acts as a beacon and draws people to the new Central Business District. The skylight rises 100 meters above the park level to take on the scale of a building. This one-of-a-kind large-scale tensegrity structure uses an intertwined surface of balanced tension cables to suspend the central support post above the transfer hall floor. This scheme celebrates the vibrant center of the new CBD by marking the crossroads of ecology, transportation, and economic growth.

PUBLIC WINNER: OPTION 3 - LOTUS LEAF

Thousands of citizens voted for the new skylight design using various social media platforms. The city honored the public winner and moved forward with Option 3— the Lotus Leaf scheme. This design was further developed in close collaboration with SOM’s Architecture, Digital Design, Structural Engineering, Open Space, High Performance Design, and Interiors groups.

COMPUTATIONAL workflow