Spanish architect Rafael Moneo, winner of the 1996 Pritzker Prize, will design the new expansion of Madrid's Atocha railway station, as confirmed to the Spanish media by the Minister of Public Works, Íñigo de la Serna.
This latest expansion includes new platforms for the AVE—the high-speed rail network operated by the state-owned company Renfe—and will mark Moneo’s third intervention at the Spanish capital’s main railway station.
The first of these projects dates back 34 years, when Moneo won the design competition to reconfigure Atocha Station and its surroundings. The project preserved the station’s central canopy, originally designed by Alberto de Palacio, transforming it into a grand public lobby featuring passenger waiting areas, offices, cafes, and a lush tropical garden. Accordingly, a new terminal for long-distance services was built to the south of the canopy.
In December 2010, eighteen years after completing his first project, Rafael Moneo—collaborating with architect Peio Elcuaz—was once again tasked with expanding Atocha Station. This phase focused on increasing platform capacity and connecting two distinct buildings while maintaining a cohesive aesthetic. To achieve this, they used the same materials as the original project—steel and aluminum—but swapped the prominent red of the first phase for white, which, as Moneo noted, helped distinguish the new addition from the existing structure.
Now, 26 years after his first project and 18 since the expansion, Rafael Moneo will add a new chapter to the history of Atocha Station. According to the Minister of Public Works, a major investment is planned for this phase, though no specific details have been released yet.
Via El País.
This article was written by Javier García Librero. The translation is powered by AI.
.jpg?1519575002 "Rafael Moneo to design the expansion of Atocha Station in Madrid")
