Bijlmer Station
Subscribe now to instantly view this image
Subscribe to the Architects’ Journal (AJ) for instant access to the AJ Buildings Library, an online database of nearly 2,000 exemplar buildings in photographs, plans, elevations and details.
Already a subscriber? Sign in
Bijlmer Station aerial view
Mark Humphreys Download Original
Train station with eight elevated railway tracks raised over a 70m-wide pedestrian boulevard, to serve a 52,000-seat stadium
A pedestrian boulevard aligned diagonally to the railway tracks was built to connect a commercial development, containing the Amsterdam Arena to the west, and residential area to the east.
Every aspect of the design process was informed by the need to create a pleasant and safe ground level public space. To avoid a dark 100m long tunnel, the concrete structures were spaced apart. Each 20m span was supported at each end on just one column via an integrated cantilevered saddle.
The lack of land to either side dictated a diagonal station hall facing the boulevard under the tracks. This diagonal slant dictated that the escalators, stair, lifts and roofs all be staggered.
Bijlmer Station had to remain open for the entire duration of construction. A viaduct carrying the extra pair of tracks was constructed first and trains from an existing pair of tracks were then re-routed onto it, leaving this area to be developed. The process was repeated until there were eight new tracks running at the raised level.
Data
- Begun: Jan 2002
- Completed: Jan 2007
- Floor area: 60,000m2
- Sector: Transport
- Total cost: £100M
- Procurement: UAV contract for viaducts and platforms, UAV-GC contract for roof, glazing and finishing
- Address: Bijlmer Station, Amsterdam, Netherlands
Materials 
Professional Team
- Architect: Grimshaw, Arcadis Architecten
- Project architect: Neven Sidor
- Client: ProRail
- Structural engineer: Arcadis Architecten
- Quantity surveyor: Arcadis Architecten
- Main contractor: Besix Nederland BV
