ZOB Central Bus Station

Skylight in the heart of the Ruhr area

Place: Bochum

Category: Public Buildings, Squares & Outdoor Lighting

The replanning of the central bus station represents the final building block of an overall concept that concludes a competition from 2001 and the replanning of the station forecourt. The defining element and the design focus of the square is the prestressed concrete roof from the 1950s over the central entrance hall of the main station. The new roofing of the bus platform respects this existing order and deliberately does not compete with it in terms of design - it quotes the expressive flying roof without wanting to trump it. The roof is framed by a perimeter frame that rises slightly towards the outer edges, with the top and bottom clad in sheet metal. The central exposure opening in the form of a light band for daylight is divided by swords running transversely to the main direction of the opening, which scatter direct daylight onto the bus platform. The existing elements, a break house for bus drivers and the subway exit, were integrated into the new concept almost unchanged.

The lighting concept by KOBER Lichtplaner uses the white metal cladding on the underside of the roof as a large "reflector" to distribute the light evenly and over a wide area. For this purpose, we developed a special LED light line, which uses a specially calculated optic to couple a side light onto the metal roof and at the same time distribute powerful basic lighting downwards on the traffic areas via the direct parts, wide and low-glare. The grazing light with 4000k LED color temperature makes the roof of the ZOB appear light and floating and creates a long-distance effect for users that serves as orientation.

Builder: Stadt Bochum
Architecturer: Böll Architekten I architekt-boell.de
Photographer Thomas Mayer