The small building in Manresa is formed beneath two metal canopies derived from the undulating structure we designed as a bus station for the city of Hannover. Despite its geometric complexity, this module has a horizontal perimeter and drains through the interior of its paired pillars. This allows it to be attached to others in length, as we did here and with subsequent canopies for railway stations.

All the spatial complexity and richness is concentrated in these roofs; the rest –the glass or brick facades– is resolved with great economy, both in resources and money.

The waiting room is small. Not only because nowadays the traveler spends only a few minutes waiting for the train but also because, except during the months of midwinter, in our climate, it is much more pleasant to wait outside, under the shade of the canopy or the laurels that extend its cover.

When we were commissioned by RENFE to design a series of canopies for various stations along the Barcelona-Valencia line, we decided it was time to approach the game with more ambition: to try to systematize it, industrialize it, and reduce its costs.

The first thing we did was to redesign the structure (which had to withstand the wind impact generated by the passing high-speed train) so that the length of the lateral overhangs was equal to half the span between pillars. This arrangement (which doesn’t seem the most structurally optimal at first glance) allowed us to keep the distance between pillars constant, whether they were from the same module or from consecutive modules. This way, we achieved a canopy with a continuous appearance, which did not manifest the individuality of each construction module. After analyzing various alternatives, we arrived at a span of 9 meters between pillars, meaning a module length of 18 meters, which, when divided longitudinally into two halves, could be transported by a standard truck.

The second concern was to find a simple, standardized, lightweight, and completely watertight solution for the roof. We built it out of fiberglass-reinforced polyester, in a single piece, like the hull of a ship, which can also be stacked and transported without any difficulty.