A Hackathon aiming to design the “Station of Tomorrow” took place at the Fabrique du Metro operated by the Société du Grand Paris on 7 February 2020. The event organised by Fer de France – an association bringing together the main players of the French railway industry – placed five teams in competition with each other who were to be judged by a jury of railway experts and accomplished designers comprised of:

Marlène Dolveck the recently appointed CEO of Gares & Connexions; Marc Guigon, Head of the UIC Passenger Department; Julien Peyron, in charge of stations at La Société du Grand Paris; Xavier Allard, Director of Design & Styling at Alstom; the Designer Régine Charvet-Pello and Isabelle Le Saux, Head of Design at AREP.
The teams composed essentially of young designers, architecture students, railway experts and station customers who were competing to imagine and design the Station of Tomorrow – Green and Responsible!

The Hackathon, an inspiring day of idea creation and design thinking, enabled the teams to respond to the demands of today’s youth who desire the Station of Tomorrow to be inspired by nature with special green spaces which can provide a calm and tranquil atmosphere – just as we would find in our parks and botanical gardens. The Station of Tomorrow must however also play an important role in responding to the social and environmental issues of its surroundings.

The five ambitious projects proposed by the teams all included in their design open green spaces offering varying “target experiences” to the different user groups identified. The winning project adopted a design philosophy centered on the use of modular structures, naturally lit and transparent, capable of delivering an atmosphere which can adapt to the profiles of different customers, their desires and their expectations.