A BIM developed Metro Red Line South Underground, Doha, Qatar

Since 2015 3TI Progetti is involved in Doha Metro Project in Qatar, one of the world’s most important and significant infrastructure construction sites. “Phase 1” includes the construction of 3 (Red, Gold, Green) out of the future 4 metro lines and 37 passenger stations.
In 2017 3TI became “Lead Designer” of the Red Line South Underground that runs for about 40 km connecting Hamad International Airport with the city centre. 3TI tasks include the design up to the As-Built, the management and coordination of the architectural design process, the technological and structural systems of 5 passenger stations including the exchange facilities. On May 2019 the RLSU segment connecting Al Qassar to Al Wakra opened to public, with 13 working stations and in December the HIA station of the Airport has been opened.
Due to the complexity of the project and the huge number of stakeholders involved, in order to match the tight delivery program and the consistency of the project, Qatar Rail provided the design guidelines developed by the Dutch practice UN Studio, who conceptually designed the entire Qatar Integrated railway Project. These guidelines represented for all the parties involved a clear and fixed reference to be followed along the project accomplishment containing the requirements and the architectural branding principles ruling the whole vision.
The ambition of the Doha Metro Project is not only to create a public infrastructure network to improve the city connections but also to establish recognizable urban elements giving a visual identity to the city. The new urban network will have an important impact on the city defining different objectives and one ambitious mission:
• Provide a smart and functional service
• Create a world class public infrastructure network setting new standards in terms of extension and technical requirements
• Establish a recognizable network identity in the urban areas
• Improve the existing local urban connectivity
The Architectural Branding Manual has localized and valorised through a unique architectural language the different zones of the city within a global vision, thus identifying the design of all the network stations:
• Recognizability and identity
From the city to the platform level each part of the station is developed through a number of elements and focal points having the goal to generate recognizability and unforgettable experience.
• Network identity
The network accessibility is clearly identified in the urban environment through a recognizable and coherent landscape branding driving the users from the station surrounding areas to the station entrance.
• Line identity
Inside the network the user is driven through his path by 4 main branding concepts that rule the architectural elements, identifying and creating the specific atmosphere of the 4 lines of the Metro. Each line is identified by specific colour, by the use of specific materials and by the exhibition in specific vitrines of elements explaining the line theme.
• Station identity
Each station becomes a cultural conveyor through artistic and media installations spread in the entire network through the information that identify it.
Specifically Al Doha Al Jadeda Station has been designed as the “Pilot Station” becoming a reference for the civil works, structural and MEP design for the entire metro network.
The typical underground station is developed on 3 levels. The at grade access level is combined with the surrounding landscape area and represents the Metro network identifying point. From the access level through elevators and escalators you reach the below “concourse level” of public use containing all the services and retails areas (offices, prayer rooms, Toilets). From this level you can access to the “platform level” where a single central platform allows accessing the trains that arrive from the 2 tunnels reaching the station.
The above functional distribution is valid exclusively for the underground stations and is overturned for the elevated stations. They have the platforms level at 18 m height from the ground and the concourse level below.
The Design of the stations covered all the areas: from the street level (landscape included) to the underground station and down to the platforms level.
The flexibility on the entire metro network is an objective of the design which defines through a contemporary language each element of the station making reference to traditional geometries.
Each line is composed by different station types, Elevated and Underground. The access to the stations is granted by the Entrances that are cladded with limestone effect finishes. When inside the stations each single architectural detail is studied to lead the user in his journey through the use of latest technologies and a strong connection with the culture and the tradition of the country. The vaults that are included both in the Entrance Shelter and in the ceiling inside the stations give a strong characterization to the main structure. The petals composing the ceiling create a recognizable and complex design. They are designed to be demountable and openable and can include lights and signage.
The walls are cladded with modular panels connected to the main structure though a metal substructure. Even if modular, the wall panels are complex elements that include lighting, seats, vitrines and ticket vending machines.
All the design stages have been developed in BIM (Building Information Modelling) managing and coordinating all the interfaces between the different station components and having a unique and shared information database for the entire project life cycle going from the preliminary stage up to the access and maintenance stage. The BIM has allowed the management and development of the project through the creation of easily-replicable and automatically-updatable parametric elements, enhancing the operations of realization and construction in order to reduce complexity minimizing time and costs.