Leipzig Central Train Station
Client: ECE Projektmanagement representing the DB Immobilienfonds 7 Wieland KG / Location: Leipzig / Retail Surface: 30,000 m²
Year of Completion: 1915 / Conversion and restoration according
to landmark protection criteria: 1997
International competition: 1st Prize, 1994
Award: Saxon State Prize for Architecture, 1999
The plans for the historical Leipzig main railroad station by the architects of
the firm of Lossow und Kühne were submitted in the 1906 competition for a “Passenger Railway Station with Terminal.” At the time of its inauguration in 1915, it was the largest terminal in Europe. Beyond its function as a trans-
portation hub, it rapidly developed into an architectural showcase. After being destroyed in World War II it was rebuilt in 1965, but it lost some of its signi-ficance as a result of the increase in automobile travel.
The uses of the railroad as well as the requirements of railway stations have changed over the years. In addition to providing functionality, flexibility, comfort, and design, today’s railway station architecture must measure up to the stan-
dards of upscale urban pedestrian areas. This was the idea behind reestab-
lishing the main Leipzig railroad station as the focus of urban life in the city.
HPP received the first prize in the architectural competition for the station’s reconfiguration in 1994 and was contracted immediately thereafter to follow through with the realization of their proposal.
As a result, the conversion of the largest railway terminal in Europe became a pilot project with the mission of incorporating a retail and services center in the reception building. In doing so, HPP had to guarantee that while the structure
of the landmark-protected station building would not be altered, the new design would meet the project’s functional, constructive, and economic needs while maintaining the fascinating impact of the 270-meter-long concourse hall. In its conversion of the station the design allowed for one major alteration to the existing structure: the addition of a lens-shaped opening in the concourse hall which respected the historical nature of the structure while creating a formal
and functional element of spatial connection.
