Nova Gorica Railway Station Redevelopment

The historic Station has long symbolized separation, with the borderline just meters away at Piazza Transalpina. It is now a symbollic and functional point of connection. The main challenge was to reimagine the future of the station area. The first step was reducing the tracks from 17 to 6 and adding a new island platform. This restructuring made space for creating the Vrtača Underpass – a safe, direct pedestrian link between the two cities. Just months after opening, the Underpass has already established itself as a vital public link.

The off-level access to the passenger platforms is an important new urban gesture that spatially and programmatically integrates the infrastructure of the underpass with the design of the public space. The underpass is thus not designed only as a utilitarian connection, but also as a space for walking, meeting, sitting and gathering. The underpass is 36.6 meters long and up to 8 meters wide (3.5 m for cyclists and 4.5 m for pedestrians). It is naturally lit from both entry points and through a central skylight located above the elevator that connects to the island platform. At both ends, the underpass opens onto elliptical sunken plazas — or so-called "ditches." From the underpass, visitors ascend to ground level via wide staircases or spiral ramps that wrap around the perimeter of the ditches and accommodate cyclists.

The materiality of the underpass was carefully selected to create a bright and welcoming public space. Natural daylight, glossy white reflective wall tiles, and colored paving together establish a welcoming and safe atmosphere, while clearly separating pedestrian and cycling zones. The brick-colored ceramic flooring continues into the plazas, where colorful stairs and ramps rise toward the station, forming a contrast with the green, planted slopes. This contrast visually softens the scale of the ditches and introduces a natural element into the project. The materials used, alongisde the greenery as well, were all selected for their low maintenance needs. An important part of the project was the renovation of the 1906 Transalpina station, focusing on the entrance lobby, ticket offices, and waiting area, while restoring original elements – paving, wall panelling, columns, canopy, and frescoes – in cooperation with the Institute for the Protection of Cultural Heritage (ZVKDS).