Western Environs of the ICE Railway Station Fulda

The main railway station in Fulda is located where one might expect: before the gates of the city. Fulda’s expansion during the Wilhelminian period brought about the establishment of the station district, which integrated the station into a continuous urban context. The situation at hand can thus be interpreted as layers that must be continued: Old Town, station district, mobility belt, convention district. As it stands now, the urban development edges and transitions between the station district and the mobility belt are unclear. For historical reasons, the façade of the city facing the railway does not present a continuous series of structures. The bus station, which looks to have been carved out of the city, and the lower-lying station square give the impression of a project unfinished.

Our approach is to give Fulda an urban face fronting the railway line as part of a clear structural setting. The new square design fosters the urban reorganisation of the area around the station and creates a welcoming gateway to the city centre. At the same time, the station square acts as a strong spatial link between the different functional levels of the train station and bus station – with a large city-side entrance square on the lower level and a small bridging square between the train and bus stations on the upper level.