This article was first published in the April 2016 issue of WIRED magazine. Be the first to read WIRED's articles in print before they're posted online, and get your hands on loads of additional content by subscribing online.
Curling up to become the undulating ceiling, walls and balcony of this building is a vast single column called The Twist. This supports the roof of the 5,355-square-metre main hall of the new €37.5 million (£27m) Transfer Terminal at Arnhem Centraal railway station in the Netherlands. "It enables column-free spans of up to 60 metres in the transfer hall," says Ben van Berkel, founder and principal architect of Dutch firm UNStudio, which carried out the wider area's master plan and the design of the new station for the client, ProRail.
The original intention was for The Twist to be constructed of concrete, but this would have been heavy and expensive. So UNStudio turned to the shipbuilders of the northern Dutch town of Groningen for a solution.
Using techniques on a scale never previously attempted, manufacturers Centraalstaal made 130 panels out of 680 tonnes of coated steel (which is about ten per cent of the weight of the intended concrete structure), working with engineers BAM Advies & Engineering together with Centraalstaal to determine the size and shape of the sections. Centraalstaal then bent the sheets using heavy-duty presses to create van Berkel's undulating design.
UNStudio's building replaces the old, smaller station, which was built hastily in the 50s after Arnhem had suffered severe second world war bomb damage. It will accommodate a daily passenger increase from 60,000 to 110,000 by 2020 - many of whom will be stopped in their tracks by this geometric wonder.
This article was originally published by WIRED UK
