The station of Santa Justa is a reference of the modern Seville and, along with the Faculty of Mathematics of the University of Seville (1974 - Alejandro de la Sota), it is the only building in the city that is awarded the National Architecture Prize. The station faces today, 25 years after its opening, what will be its most committed and substantial change, the completion of the project through the realization of the buildings of its perimeter. The proposed design for the environment of the Santa Justa station for the City of Seville and Adif, is a continuation of those already made at different times from 1989 until the last proposal of the end of 2018. In all of them, the proposal was always the creation of a perimeter building that will provide the station with a new and controlled environment of its own. Since the design of the station in 1989, which started operating in 1991, the project always ‘remained incomplete’. Since the initial sketches, the station was wrapped up with the so-called "station buildings" that helped it settle and order on the land that back then received the qualification of being a "no man’s land". This perimeter, which is spoken of today, never even started. The lots have remained empty or have been precariously occupied by car parks for rental cars, trucks or other minor uses.

Santa Justa as an activity catalyst.

Many things have changed over the years with successive proposals since 1989; but we believe that this belt of perimeter buildings is necessary to form a unit with the station itself. According to the definition of the General Plan itself:

‘The pre-existence of the Santa Justa station as a building of great architectural value, must be adequately adopted by the new buildings to build a new environment. The perimeter buildings must thus respond to its condition as Santa Justa´s new skin, so the architectural project should be understood as an exercise of 'expansion' by establishing necessary dialogue with the initial project and adopting sufficient guarantees for proper integration.’

On this occasion, with this new proposal, we introduce changes to the previous versions. These changes adapt themselves to what is happening today in the surroundings of the stations of big cities, which help understand these spaces as real catalysts of activity and generators of wealth. There are many examples in Europe and other parts of the world, but, saving all distances, the closest could be "Madrid Castellana Norte" around the Chamartín station. A project that will undoubtedly mark a before and after for Madrid. In the case of Seville, these lands, owned by the City of Seville and Adif, treasure an obvious as well as an exceptional value for its immediacy with the high-speed train (AVE), which is as much as to say, of Madrid, Malaga or Cordoba and the rest of the Spanish rail network. In order for Seville to not waste "the occasion that these lands enclose", we proposed a change of use and an increase of buildability that differ from the projects of previous years. It is suggested the creation of a new nucleus of services; hotels, offices, business center and, in general, services of economic activity in the surroundings of the station.

 This approach would continue and extend the axis of Diego Martínez Barrio and San Francisco Javier Avenues with the tertiary uses described, leaving the use of residential exclusively reserved for the most suitable area, that is, Pablo Iglesias Street in front of the Ramón Rubial Gardens. In this sense, we propose some buildings of great uniformity around the perimeter, using the same materials as that of the station, leaving Santa Justa station as the protagonist and most singular building of the complex. Within this purpose, the so-called 'plaza de la estación' is also proposed, eliminating the sequence of parking that is currently in front of it. Thus, creating a friendlier place to receive a traveler.

New park as an endowment of new quality to the city. 

The central triangular space in front of the station that is defined by the avenue of José Laguillo and the streets Santa Juana Jugán and Pablo Picasso, has been a surplus residual space throughout the decades as a consequence of the layout of these streets. Now, after the building of the Treasury Building, the offices building for Junta de Andalucia, the L. Braille Educational Center, and above all, the future arrival of the buildings on the front of the station, this triangular space is becoming a central space of much greater importance. Despite of being outside the scope of urban action defined in the PGOU, we understand that this space should take advantage of the performance of this ambitious project that raises a significant increase in buildability in order to solve their problems. It would be time to close the "railway ravine" to South West of the station that divides the park in two and how awful it is today. This would lead to the creation of a park that occupies the whole block becoming this way a new endowment of quality for the city and the adjoining neighborhoods. We understand that this would benefit the Santa Justa station itself and all the mentioned buildings surrounding it. The design of the park should enhance this central character of the new park. To do this, a sports facility is proposed for runners and skaters that brings activity to the area.. The design and location of the vegetation shall allow the pedestrian access to the station and the visual relation with the Av. De la Buhaira.

Phases of the Project

It is proposed that the project be developed in two phases: in the first one, the space that will be built around the head of the station in the shape of a "U" as well as the VPO housing that overlooks Pablo Iglesias Avenue will be built. In the second phase, a long term one and considering the PGOU, the buildings parallel to the Samaniego bridge and the building of other uses will be built in correspondence with the platforms facing the Kansas City avenue.