• • 20 May 2015
  • 
  •  Billy Mwangi
• Communal Centres , Commercial Centres , Commercial , Transit Oriented , Modern Africana , Modernism , Urban Renewal , Urban , Urban Architecture ,

Casablanca is a modern city in Morocco with a concentration of Art Deco and international style and modernist buildings which tries to draw a lot from the vernacular Moorish architecture of the area. It is a modern city which has undergone change in a short time from experimental lifestyle of the residents. The city urban planning is also undergoing reorganization hence the Casa Port Station fits well into the plans of the city.

The Casa Port railway link was inaugurated by King Mohammed VI of Morocco as a crowning achievement for Morocco’s transportation network’s modern heritage.  The project creates a high speed rail link between Tangiers and Casablanca. It is located in the core of the city neighboring the city’s port, the marina and Hassan II Mosque and offers on-site commercial and leisure services to its users.

The Casa Port station never served the function of a gateway into the city and always remained in the shadow.
AREP needed to fill a void in the city’s waterfront image. They were to design the station to:

1. Meet Casablanca’s needs for growth and modernization
2. Accommodate rising transport volume, expected to reach 25 million passengers a year

The Casa Port Station now serves as a hub for inter modal transport.

The project consists of three buildings: an underground parking lot, a passenger building and a building which houses the ONCF services located nearby.

The project has free flowing spaces with natural light coming from the atrium and the large covered masharabiya façade in the exterior western front. The masharbiya are made of prefabricated concrete panels which gives the project a vernacular look with a modernist interpretation.

The roof is clad in wood planks increasing thermal comfort in the building. The roof is supported in metal frame columns tapered with an an upper palm-shaped structure. The roof then is covered with asphalt sealing and a copper foil finishing.

As part of the same project, the existing railway installations were renovated and adapted to optimum use matching the traffic evolution.

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    © Railway Station Casa Port_AREP_Dusk

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    © Railway Station Casa Port_AREP_Canopy

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    © Railway Station Casa Port_AREP_Atrium

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    © Railway Station Casa Port_AREP_Lobby

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    © Railway Station Casa Port_AREP_Column Detail

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    © Railway Station Casa Port_AREP_West Front

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    © Railway Station Casa Port_AREP_Street

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    © Railway Station Casa Port_AREP_Stairs

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    © Railway Station Casa Port_AREP_Waiting Area

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    © Railway Station Casa Port_AREP_Food Court

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    © Railway Station Casa Port_AREP_Impression

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    © Railway Station Casa Port_AREP_Plan

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    © Railway Station Casa Port_AREP_Section 01

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    © Railway Station Casa Port_AREP_Section 02