FORM DEVELOPMENT- RAIL PLATFORM:

So, I think I have come up with my concept for the light rail platform that sits in the centre of the road, in between both directions of the light rail. These will either be in the centre of the road for other stations in Canberra, or off to the side of the road, depending on the placement of the light rail line. An example of this 'platform' can be seen in the Adelaide example shown in a previous post. Since this platform will only be 4m wide, there is no room for station support services like toilets etc. so as stated previously, I am designing a station on the side of the street to connect with the exhibition space. This will be the same for all light rail terminals around Canberra- the station will be designed to allow a connection with the exhibition space and will be generally the same. I am thinking if possible, I may try to make these stations as portable as possible so they can be relocated depending on developments patterns of Canberra in the future. As the station and terminal will be connected and will have the same kind of structure anyway, I'm hoping it will be easy enough to make them both a portable entity. The concept for the Platform design uses perforated metal to act as a leaf canopy for the roof/shade structure. This has been chosen to immitate the nature orientated city and create a structure that is interesting but doesn't clash with the city too much. The structue will be designed using perforated metal panels to create shade but allow some light to shine through, a PVC cover on top to create shelter from rain, and LED lights under the metal panels to light it up at night time. Im still un decided whether to alloctae a colour to each platform around Canberra for the colour of the metal and lights- Parliament House- green, Commonwealth Park- blue etc, or create a combination of colours for each one. Maybe these could be the colours on the Australian Flag- red, blue and white, or green and gold, or maybe this kind of concept could be left for the exhibition space. I will also look into the possibility of having sensor lights to create a pattern or change of colour at night time when the light rail comes into the station. These are some sketches of the platform design at concept stage:

Here are a few images of the perforated leaf metal panel pattern that has been used on a residential project:

http://www.architecture-view.com/2010/11/21/breathtaking-ladderstile-house-in-london/