Hardbrücke station is to be upgraded to keep pace with urban development in the Zurich West area and to accommodate growing passenger numbers. The station acts as a central hub between the tracks, Hardbrücke bridge, and Hardstrasse, which runs below the bridge and ends in a square in front of the new station.
Passengers will enter the new station building from this ground-level square, Bahnhofsplatz, using escalators, stairways, or elevators to reach the bridge level, where in the future trams will share the bus stops. Two new concourses connected to the bridge lead down to the commuter train platforms. An intermediate level, forming a gallery in the high entrance hall, allows passengers to change to other lines and traverse the site without crossing the Hardbrücke traffic lanes.
The narrow underground connecting tract currently in use will be taken out of operation and used exclusively for technical infrastructure. In conjunction with the existing passenger tunnel to the west, a generously proportioned new passenger tunnel in the eastern part of the site will help to further ease pedestrian traffic, particularly on the middle platform.
Roofs with multiple folds provide shelter for the platforms, sweeping up to Hardbrücke bridge in the east and west, then widening along the length of the bridge above the bus/tram stops and the entrance building. The latter establishes a link under the bridge between the two sides of the site. A nuanced building emerges, providing a spatial frame for the branching streams of passengers while confidently asserting its status as an autonomous structure.
In the platform area, the configuration of the structural system is coordinated with the structural axes of the bridge, offering optimum flexibility for future alterations to the track and platform layout. The load-bearing constructions of the concourses and roofs are entirely independent of the existing bridge structure.
