In Asia's world-class cities, such as Hong Kong, the efficient flow of people through stations is no longer the only benchmark that makes them stand out. Commercial value and lifestyle have become equally important, and architects must strive to achieve this.
'In our modern, competitive Asian cities our train stations need to be more than efficient people-movement systems,' said Keith Griffiths, chairman of Aedas. 'They will be places of beauty where people will enjoy spending time at shops, galleries and exhibitions ... they will celebrate architecture and provide much-needed public space for the enjoyment of our people.'
Stations of the future need to become fully integrated with other transport systems and retail, office and residential buildings, with the power to affect the immediate environment.
Of the stations Aedas has worked on, the company's director, Max Connop, said that the most significant lifestyle station design was the Sunny Bay above-ground station on Lantau Island. As a window to Disneyland, the station had to embody a sense of drama and expectation, he said.
This was achieved by adopting a large fabric canopy roof over the main interchange hall, carefully engineered to optimise its performance while promoting a sense of festivals and special occasions. This way of design was carried forward to the design of the Ngong Ping 360 Cable Car project.
Mr Connop said station design had become a discipline in its own right. 'The complexity of services and design codes that define a safe and efficient design require a great amount of detailed knowledge and this in turn nurtures a very particular response in the design solution,' he said.