With its Green Connect proposal, Zaha Hadid Architects won the design competition for the redevelopment of Vilnius station and its surroundings.

Today in modern cities, railway stations  are the sustainable cornerstone of transport, living and working space. (Re)bringing life to the benefit of public space is the ambition of Zaha Hadid Architects’ project in Vilnius. Green Connect will be a transport hub adapted to the constraints and opportunities of the 21st century, with new public spaces enveloped by nature, all in line with the city sustainable development programme.

The project will modernise Vilnius railway station. Until now, the station “literally cut the city in two”. By imagining a new public bridge over the railway tracks, the architects are now proposing to bring neighbourhoods and their inhabitants closer together. In a project that brings together an entire city by facilitating the circulation of pedestrians and cyclists thanks to the new bridge.  

ZHA Vilnius Connect © Negativ

A transformation that will benefit everyone

To achieve this, the original station will be partly reused.  The project will combine new construction with adaptive reuse, which is one of the most sustainable ways of considering urban renewal today. The proposal transforms the existing rail infrastructure into a hub for national and local railway services, but also for the new Rail Baltica line that connects the European high-speed network.

Its designers explain that Green Connect will be “a future-proof mixed-use complex, designed with passenger experience in mind. By offering a multitude of new public spaces (a plaza and an adjacent park, more than 300 new trees and 4000m² of landscaping), our proposals transform the site into a destination not only for users, but also for all citizens of Vilnius.“

Tags: Green Connect, Lithuania, Mobility, station, Sustainable Development, transformation, urban renewal, Vilnius, Zaha Hadid Architects