Stadium MRT Station, Singapore

The project to construct the Stadium MRT Station was selected from submissions to the Marina Line Architectural International Design Competition, launched in 2000 by the Singapore Land Transport Authority (LTA) and the Singapore Institute of Architects. The project brief explicitly requested an outstanding level of design and innovation. Knowledge of the technical issues of station construction would not be a discriminating factor because LTA would fill any gaps in expertise. The competition was won by the local practice WOHA founded by Richard Hassel and Wong Mun Summ. The Stadium MRT Station serves the Singapore Sports Hub, a complex comprising the new National Stadium, the Aquatic Centre and the Singapore Indoor Stadium. It also serves the Kallang area with the Kallang Theatre and the Leisure Park Kallang, and the east coast residences via the footbridge over the river Kallang. To accommodate and control crowd flows at ground level, the station was designed with a large open-air atrium and a ground-level public square. The atrium prevents the occurrence of panic situations that are always a risk when large numbers of people are forced to pass through restricted spaces. With its trees, benches and meeting places, the square is a pleasant waiting area for passengers and a recreational space for the nearby residential district. The shape of the Stadium MRT Station was determined mainly by two factors: the linearity of the flow of the crowd towards the lower floors and the decision on the part of WOHA to reference the large curves of the old demolished National Stadium. As a result, the essence of the project consists of the juxtaposition of a linear and a curved element. The interior of the station has the appearance of a deep silver, luminous geological fracture surmounted by two imposing opaque elements. In a central volume without reinforcements, the dynamism of the architecture derives from the progressive movement of the curved wall towards the straight wall, almost touching it at the centre. The escalators that descend in a straight line and transfer passengers from the ground-level atrium to the train platform at level -2 lend drama to the perception of space. Natural light floods in through a large skylight in the roof, illuminating this level during the day. The ribbed aluminium wall cladding system was specially designed by the WOHA team to create a seemingly indefinable material capable of conveying hard or soft metallic sensations according to the quality of the light at different times of day. A single extruded panel can be oriented in four different ways to create unlimited scenarios. The floors and walls in some spaces in the station were clad with porcelain tiles from Rondine Group’s Dual.1 collection. The project won the President’s Design Award 2010, Design of The Year launched by Design Singapore Council with the Urban Redevelopment Authority of Singapore.