Rail-ville Shopping hybridises two urban types; metropolitan train stations with suburban shopping centres. Both urban models are typically inward-focussed; both have limited functionality beyond their intended purposes. Splicing these together into a single, continuous space aims to enhance the experience of each. The question is simple: can suburban train lines terminate in the middle of shopping malls, or can the secondary retail programs of train stations reach a critical mass and take over the spatial experience?
I explored the physical space between the train platform and the retail circulation, trying to blur the boundaries where one ceases and the next begins. Sometimes the separation is no more than a sheet of glass, at other points, it is an open void which provides views of the train from above, below and at concourse level.
This ‘shopping station’ site is the proposed location of a future Rowville train station, at the eastern edge of Melbourne. The building’s edge is a transition zone rather than a single boundary; allowing elements of the exterior to penetrate the enclosure. Native planting roughens the built edge, while large timber decks form an outdoor recreational landscape.
These outcomes could be a design model for suburban train stops.
— Benjamin Clements