African Design Magazine Africa's Top 10 Projects of 2015 | Page 26

a central floor opening and link the
main concourse with the lower level,
which completes the retail offer of the
ground level (fast-food restaurants,
kiosks, vending machines and ATMs)
by providing food court areas and some
retail outlets. The underground car park
is located below this level and has a
capacity of 380 places.

The passenger building
A wooden and steel roof obeying a
rigorous geometry, tops the “hypostyle”
concourse. It is supported by thin
columns, the upper part of which splits
into eight branches to filter sunlight
through the skylight. Its floor-to-ceiling
glass facades ensure continuity between
indoor and outdoor public spaces, while
allowing passengers to grasp the general
layout of the station and, thus, anticipate
their movements. On the west facade of
the building, the modern mashrabiyya
acts like a screen between the city and
the station to reduce direct sunlight in the
afternoon. On the south facade, the roof
covers the vast outdoor public spaces. By
its spaces, volumes, materials, lighting
and geometry, the station carries on the heritage of Moroccan [X