Subterranean drama.

Two new underground stations in Paris exploit the scale and materiality of engineering structures to create inspiring and dignified public spaces.

As part of a general initiative to upgrade and modernize the Parisian suburban rail system, a new line has been constructed on the Regional Express Network (RER). Running out from the city to the suburbs of Saint-Denis, the new E line forms major transport interchanges at the Gate du Nord and Gare Saint-Lazare. By the time it reaches central Paris, the line runs underground and two new stations have been built to serve it. Magenta connects with the Gare du Nord and Haussmann connects with Gate Saint-Lazare. Designed by SNCF's Atelier d'Architecture, under the supervision of Jean-Marie Duthilleul, the two new stations attempt to civilize and humanize the often dismal experience of underground rail travel. Even in Paris, renowned for the relative efficiency of its public transport system, Metro and RER stations can be bleak and disorientating. Like subterranean streets or squares, Magenta and Haussmann cultivate their own civic identities and sense of place, despite being 30m below the city. Both explore a common language of elegant functionalism based on strong engineering forms and simple materials animated by light. Duthilleul's long association with French rail projects includes the RER/TGV interchange at Roissy airport (AR February) and new suburban RER stations at Saint-Denis (AR September 1998), in which speed and movement were expressed as linear, lightweight canopy structures. Here, the muscular power of civil engineering generates and inspires the subterranean architecture.

MAGENTA STATION

Magenta station lies in the 10th arrondissement of Paris, between the Gare du Nord and Gare de l'Est, within a triangle formed by rue du Faubourg Saint-Denis, rue Demarquay and rue de l'Aqueduc. The area is primarily residential, with a mixture of small shops, artisans' workshops and light industries. The station is aligned on a north-south axis roughly parallel with the Gare du Nord and is joined to it by a system of tunnels, halls and escalators that connect through to other RER lines and the Metro network. At the south end of the station a monumental circulation and ticket hall leads down to platform level. Daylight floods into the hall through glass rooflights, enlivening the concrete structure and dramatizing the heroically scaled space in the manner of a Piranesian etching.

At platform level, the new station is 225m long and 55m wide. A main central vault spans two lines and attendant platforms, flanked by two smaller side vaults each spanning a single track. The curved vaults are formed from smooth reinforced concrete, inlaid with 1.4m square panels of melamine foam covered with a synthetic fabric. These 'quilted' panels are highly acoustically absorbent and help to dampen noise. The concrete surface is generally left bare, but throughout the station variations in formwork (timber, stainless steel, polythene sheet for a frosted effect) create subtle variations in finish. Mechanical treatments such as bush-hammering for the platform arch abutments add further texture and visual diversity.

Against the austere elementality of the concrete caverns, small yet well considered details provide flashes of colour and articulation. Standard fluorescent tube fittings are enveloped by curved sheets of red, orange and blue glass, like exotic birds or colourful kites floating in space. Wafer thin timber seating is supported on minimal metal brackets and even the inevitable advertising hoardings are reduced to simple metal frames.

Timber decking is used on walkways and stairs, softening the concrete structure. Ticket barriers take the form of conventional turnstiles protected by low screens of frameless toughened glass. Signage is lucid and legible and conforms to a standard system. The sum of this attention to detail is a pleasing coherency that avoids distracting clutter and although you fear slightly that the concrete walls may provide an inviting tabula rasa for graffiti (doubtless the stations will be diligently maintained), there is an undeniable sense of trying to improve the lives of ordinary Parisians.

HAUSSMANN STATION

Haussmann station lies between the 8th and 9th arrondissements, at the centre of an important business and shopping district. Large department stores, Garnier's Opera and Saint-Lazare station give the area its bustling, civic character. Aligned on an east-west axis, the station is bounded by rue Saint-Lazare, rue du Havre, rue Mogador and Boulevard Haussmann. The new station is a place of transfer as well as a gateway to the district, so a complex network of tunnels connects it with existing Metro lines and Saint-Lazare station. Unlike Metro entrances and exits which usually emerge directly into the street, several of the new E line openings are set within the facades of existing buildings. Entrances are constructed from large timber clad panels that swing up like garage doors to form canopies during the day.

At each end of the station, two concourses lead down to the platforms 30m below the surface. The eastern hall is the larger of the two and houses other facilities such as shops and SNCF offices. As at Magenta, the halls derive their presence from the sheer scale of the concrete retaining walls and structure. Set against this massive engineered bulk are slender steel and timber walkways and banks of escalators that plummet and weave through space, funnelling troglodytic passengers up and down to their trains. Bush-hammered concrete adds to the halls' mysterious, cave-like quality.

The underground platforms are similar in scale and proportion to Magenta. Supported on two hollow abutments 6m wide, the main central arch spans 21 m. Two 11 m wide secondary tunnels run parallel with each abutment. The 225m long station vault reads as a smoothly curving volume, washed by a gentle luminance from rows of suspended light fittings. As at Magenta, noise is dampened by blocks of 'quilted' acoustic panels and the end walls of the vault are also covered in timber strips. Seating is formed from long horizontal blocks of stone, roughly dressed as though it were just hewn from the earth. Service rooms and shopfronts are clad with copper panels that have been treated by acid to create a scabrous patina. The rough copper glistens unevenly like a mineral deposit in a mine.

Although both Haussmann and Magenta stations are essentially places of transit severed from the life of the city, their architects have created a subterranean realm that despite its economy of form and materials has both drama and dignity.

Architect

AREP, Paris, France

Project team

Jean-Marie Duthilleul, Etienne Tricaud, Roland Legrand, Philippe Druesne, Helene Luanco, Gilles Mantel, Fabienne Couvert

Civil engineers

SETEC TPI, SIMECSOL, SOGELERG

Photographs

Paul Raftery