The Sun Station

Estación Intermodal del Sol is one of the stations in the Santiago metro system, arranged on two levels and providing a change-over point for city and intercity buses. In this way, it increases links to the zone to the west of Santiago, which thanks to this station gains quick and easy access to the entire Santiago metro system. The architectural proposal for this terminal is particularly innovative in Chile, thanks to use of a large canopy made of a tensile structure having the design line chosen for all of the surface projects for new Metro stations designed by the BAC S.A. architectural firm. This canopy was designed with the dual functions of protecting passengers from the weather and offering a covered circulation area with few vertical structural elements. Its shapes favour ventilation and permanent air circulation, allowing the creation of a large ventilated waiting area without the build-up of exhaust fumes from the buses. The architectural development is simple: 13 bus bays, two sets of staircases and a central body with services for passengers and ticket offices. The latter are equipped with Easy luminaires fitted with Dark Light screens. An essential feature of the project was limiting the number of luminaires with their relative supports as far as possible, since they usually obstruct circulation: that’s why the decision was made to use the huge structure’s supports as fixing elements for the Woody symmetrical and asymmetrical floodlights with 150 and 250 W metal halide lamps. The number of luminaires is low, but they are highly efficient for a covered surface area measuring 3000 square metres, minimising electricity consumption for lighting and air-conditioning. The final overall configuration gives a particularly attractive bus terminal which captures the observer’s attention, successfully updating the urban image of a place that until not long before the project began to take shape was dreary, bordered by three motorways and practically abandoned on the outskirts of Santiago.