Yunlin High-Speed Rail Station_Transportation_Projects | KRIS YAO｜ARTECH

Three new stations were added to the Taiwan High Speed Rail (THSR) system in 2015. One of them, Yunlin Station, sits at the northern tip of the Jianan Plain, providing convenient transportation and serving as a new landmark of the local identity. The name Yunlin means “cloud and forest,” and to echo with it, the design takes the phrase “cloud light and forest shade” as a starting concept. The design employs a smoothly meandering metal colonnade on the exterior and cascade roof planes to form a taut and streamlined station space.

To achieve the environmental goal of reduction, the overarching ideas for the roofs’ structural design are long spans and lightness of weight. A modular construction is employed to minimize any impact on rail operations during construction. The long-span beams on the exterior colonnade create the open, column-free, and continuous station hall, and the columns serve as sunshades and as a buffer zone for crowds between the interior and exterior.

With low-e glazing on the elevations, there is also abundant natural light from the gaps among the cascade roof planes, creating a sense of penetration and spatial layering. The station volume seems light and delicate. All the ticketing, commercial, and waiting spaces are located on the ground floor, while departing passengers move through the vertical cores to platforms three stories above.

The precise, clean forms and the traffic flow planning are meant to provide an experience of convenience and speed, which can also lead to poetic memories of the space.