Trogen Train Station 2017
Trogen | Switzerland

Task: New Train Station
Client: Appenzellerbahn and Municipality Trogen
Tender: Study contract 1st grade

Architecture: Bernardo Bader Architects
Team: Joachim Ambrosig (PL)
Photos: Bernardo Bader Architects
Floor space: 800m²
Structure: Mixed construction

The fitting piece for the town

The urban planning concept for this design envisioned a free-standing station building, which with the surrounding context would create new spaces and link them with the existing areas in the town.

The proposal is based on a new transport route and uses the entire depth of the space. In the future, a square will extend along Kantontraße between the postal building and the train station area. This entails an entirely new design of the existing situation, which paves the way for a new village square for the municipality of Trogen. On the east side, opposite the train station, the front of the building defines a square, properly welcoming visitors who arrive from the direction of Speicher.

The precise placement holds considerable potential, marking this as an attractive location for renting with good accessibility to the newly created spaces. The aim is to create communal and central spaces without disruptive installations and to ensure a continuous and unspectacular flow of movement within the space on the ground floor level.

The form, structuring elements, facade components and material choices were prioritized for the new building.  Tectonics, relief elements, the solid foundation of the building and the structured wooden facade were focal points of the design, among others. A bend on the south side of the building structure responds to the topography of the hillside at the back of the property and makes the slender building appear even more elegant.

The building presents itself as a timber structure, resting on a solid foundation. Confident, modern and robust – just like one would expect a station building to be. Nonetheless, displaying a delicate texturing in its design language, it remains true to local influences and respects its special surroundings.