Site Location: Kurmitola, Dhaka

Student’s Name: Rafid Rahim

Thesis supervisor: Ar. Tanvir Hasan

Head of the Department: Ar. Iftekhar Rahman

University Name: Shahjalal University of Science and Technology

This Thesis discusses the transportation challenges faced by Dhaka, One of the megacities with the highest population growth in the world, which struggles with transportation issues because of poor training system and an expanding population. The Bangladeshi government and JICA collaborated to build a mass rapid transit (MRT) and bus rapid transit (BRT) network to address this problem. The project comprises numerous MRT and BRT lines, with the MRT-1 line connecting the airport to various railway stations, and is expected to be finished by 2030.

In order to connect the airport, the rail station, and the BRT and MRT services, the project aspires to build an integrated multimodal transport hub in the current Bimanbandar railway station at Kurmitola, Dhaka. The idea stresses seamless transition of commuters and passengers from one mode of transportation to another. Additionally, the horizontal and vertical alignment can be used to integrating the project as a public place through a public park for pedestrians and locals and a hotel for travelers.

Conceptual sketch

Conceptual sketch

Since the mass transit concept is relatively new in Bangladesh and no Multimodal Hub has been constructed yet, the number of research in this field is scarce and there is a huge opportunity to explore.The site is located at Kurmitola, alongside Dhaka-Mymensing Highway,at the opposite side of Dhaka International Airport 2nd terminal. It is one of the busiest roads of Dhaka with huge traffic problems. The Bimanbandar Railway station is the 2nd Intercity rail station of Dhaka and it serves the population of Northern Dhaka, it was first established in the 1980s and started serving Inter-City passengers in the 90s. MRT-1 and BRT-3 lines are planned to start from this station. Thus Government of Bangladesh and JICA proposed to transform this Railway station in a Multimodal transport hub.

Concept: Osmosis

As a very basic definition of Osmosis, It is a process where molecules travel from highly concentrated zones to less concentrated zones through a semipermeable membrane without any energy. When translated in Architecture, it is about guide people from one destination to energy by guiding them through architectural elements so they can easily know where they have to go without getting confused or forming traffic. People can be moved both horizontally and vertically without any guidance.

The building will be permeable from all sides. People can enter and exit the building and move from one zone to another easily guided by architectural elements. Architectural elements like Column & lighting through roof guides people towards their destination without getting lost.

Ground Floor Plan (Level 0)

This project also explores sustainability. The big openings on the roof are covered with Photovoltaic glass. Photovoltaic glass not only produces electricity but also prevents the heat of the sunlight to pass through. This the inside of the building will be illuminated with enough natural lighting minimizing the usage of electricity whilst making more electricity of it’s own. Also, in order to illuminate the Metro Rail platform which is 30 meters below the ground level, Optical fiber lighting system will be used to bring natural Light from the sky to the deep underground. This will save a lot of electricity in the entire project. Careful design consideration has been done so natural lighting can enter at every part of the building to save electricity costs whilst producing it’s own electricity with the Photovoltaic glasses.

A public space and park has been designed beside the Multimodal hub so it can also be a public gathering space for the local people. There’s also shopping malls, food courts and entertainment zones inside the building thus it’ll also be a big economic hub of the area. Since Bimanbandar Railway station is one of the busiest railway station in Bangladesh, the service of this station cannot be discontinued due to construction of the multimodal hub. For this reason, the entire structure will be constructed in Phase wise construction.

West Elevation

South Elevation

Section AA'

Section BB'

In phase 1, the new Railway Station will be constructed at the northern side of the side whilst keeping the old railway station running. Once the new Railway station is ready for operation the old Railway station will be demolished. In Phase 2, after new Railway station has been constructed and the old Railway Station has been demolished, the Interchange hub and the MRT station will be constructed. In phase 3, after all the buildings have been constructed, the giant super roof will be placed & the construction will be finished commencing operations of all the modes.

To my understanding, the complex network of Circulation between all the passengers has been solved though the design in such a manner that no two passengers from different modes of transport will cross or bump into each other. Also the architectural elements of the building have been designed to maximize visibility from one end of the building to another so everyone can find their destination mode of transport easily without getting lost.