Tsukuba Express / Kashiwa-Tanaka Station (2004/5)
The next station after Kashiwanoha Park Station is Kashiwa-tanaka Station. It is close to the Tonegawa river, and an agricultural park is planned for that vicinity. Tanaka means "In the middle of the field", which is the old name for this region.
Slashes in the Cloth / Fish in the Stream
This station has three levels. A pedestrian deck one level up from the street connects to a concourse, and the platforms are on the top level.
The function of the street level has yet to be decided. Instead of simply filling it with convenience stores and bicycle parking, a café with public terminals for use by citizens of the city was proposed, along with a new type of plaza space to complement the functions of the planned agricultural park. However the decision making process is taking a long time.
Therefore, the design separates street level from the upper levels so that the whole will be functional no matter how the street level is used. The uppermost level is covered by a flowing shape made up of a series of connected surfaces, some of which fold down to enclose part of the concourse level.
The shape varies along the longitudinal axis, with no two points having the same section.
This shape may recall the Tonegawa river flowing nearby.
This type of exterior tends to be easily soiled by trails left when rainwater flows over it. To reduce this, rain gutters were inserted at several points as horizontal slits in the surface. This gives an effect like slits cut with a knife into a fluid surface, similar to a garment made by inserting slashes into a single piece of cloth. Although they are not visible from the outside, there are also horizontal gutters under the windows, to prevent grime from becoming conspicuous as far as possible.
Structurally, the steel structure of the top level is supported by the reinforced concrete beams of the bottom two levels, a common configuration in railway stations. In the steel structure of the top level, the main frame is composed of rings with longitudinal loads distributed to a system of pipe girders. These run along the lower exterior of the mainframe to emphasize directionality.
