Lahti Travel Centre

The new Travel Centre by finnish architects JKMM  is located at the heart of the city of Lahti next to the existing, historical railway station. It forms a public transport hub connecting the rail network to the long-distance and local bus lines. The new Travel Centre consists of a 60-meter long canopy for the bus terminal, enclosed elevator structures, local bus stops, and supporting landscape elements. There is also a cladding for the 80-meter long tunnel space underneath the new deck that forms a platform for the canopy. Together these elements create an easily perceivable and high quality entity in a complex city environment in various levels.

Historically significant railway station, a solid red brick building from 1930’s, sets a characteristic milieu for the Travel Centre. The station building is included on the National Board of Antiques’ list of nationally significant cultural environments. Partially in front of it stands the new terminal canopy for the intercity busses. As the most prominent element of the new Travel Centre, the terminal canopy initiates a dialogue between the new and old elements. Its minimalistic sculpture-like form embraces the history and value of the area. In terms of the cityscape, the Travel Centre provides a high quality and cohesive visual impression. The main materials, copper, glass and aluminium, were carefully chosen to meet requirements of the surrounding milieu. The canopy and columns are clad in perforated copper. Next to it, the delicate and airy elevator tower uses glass in both the outer walls and load-bearing structures. Inside the glass shell is the elevator shaft, covered in copper and copper wire mesh. It is an elegant counterpart to the powerful and streamlined silhouette of the canopy. The two other elevator towers, also made of glass and copper, are located in the northern part of the area. Together they create a portal to southwards of the city. The space under the bridge deck is clad with anodized aluminium profiles. Noise reduction, general lighting and high-quality atmospheric lighting are all integrated behind the cladding. They create visually refined and acoustically pleasing environment to the tunnel-like space. The parts between the main structures - support walls, bridge railings, outdoor benches and walls - are all copper-clad as well to complement the appearance. The Travel Centre is in use throughout the year and around the clock. Therefore special attention was paid to lighting. The electricity and HVAC equipment is hidden inside the structures. Light sources have been placed behind perforated copper parts in various elements and will enhance the character of the copper parts during the darker seasons.

Size of the planning area: 11 000 sqm
construction beginning: April 2014
completed:  January 2016
Team: Samuli Miettinen  Leading architect, Asmo Jaaksi, Teemu Kurkela, Juha Mäki-Jyllilä, Tuomas Raikamo, Katariina Knuuti, Jarno Vesa