Migros / Bahnhof Basel

Boarding the train
of time

Whoever goes on a jour­ney has some­thing to tell. Basel SBB sta­ti­on is the lar­gest bor­der sta­ti­on in Euro­pe. A hub and a point of con­ver­gence for peop­le set­ting out on their dai­ly jour­neys. Whe­ther to distant lands or the near­by office – the sta­ti­on is a place of per­so­nal sto­ries – and encoun­ters. Of fare­wells and reuni­ons. But also a place whe­re our sen­ses are allo­wed to ride the mer­ry-go-round. In this exci­ting set­ting, we are giving free rein to our empa­thy and crea­ti­vi­ty. Put­ting our hand to the task of trans­forming the his­to­ric halls of the west wing, which will then shi­ne in even grea­ter splendour.

Boarding at platform nine and three-quarters

A his­to­ric buil­ding with the hig­hest requi­re­ments for monu­ment pro­tec­tion. Anyo­ne who dares to under­ta­ke such a pro­ject needs a sure instinct. The spe­ci­fi­ca­ti­ons with which Migros, the lar­gest retail com­pa­ny in Switz­er­land, ent­rus­ted us with the design manage­ment of the three halls were also defi­ni­ti­ve. The request was to crea­te a modern and uni­que gas­tro con­cept that empha­si­zes the extra­or­di­na­ry flair of the buil­ding and also gets an inde­pen­dent new name, look & feel from us. One that exu­des light­ness, but at the same time picks up on exis­ting values and deve­lo­ps them further.

We also took a clo­se look at the diver­si­ty of the tar­get groups that enter the­se hal­lo­wed halls. What are their needs? And how do the­se needs affect their length of stay? Based on our ana­ly­sis, we deve­lo­ped an expe­ri­ence-enhan­cing inte­rior design con­cept: the fur­ther you go into the west wing, the more inten­si­ve­ly you per­cei­ve the sur­roun­dings around you. In a way, it is almost like going strai­ght to Hogwarts…

Three experience halls – three destinations

800 squa­re metres spread over three spe­cial rooms. Roman­tic nost­al­gia is reve­a­led as soon as you walk through the his­to­ric dou­ble doors. The indi­vi­du­al com­part­ments of the west wing are desi­gned for peop­le with very dif­fe­rent needs. The­re are the has­ty ones, liter­al­ly on the go with cof­fee in hand. The com­mu­ters who want to pack an inspi­ra­ti­on or two in their busi­ness bag to enjoy on their jour­neys. All kinds of working peop­le come from the busy neigh­bour­hood for second bre­ak­fast and lunch – and of cour­se the tra­vel­lers and tou­rists who con­scious­ly per­cei­ve this place as some­thing spe­cial and want to stock up on Swiss chocolate.

Creating a moment of variety

The second hall is pre­do­mi­nant­ly clad in black metal, com­bi­ned with bright and lively ele­ments. 185 squa­re metres that adapt to the indi­vi­du­al pace of com­mu­ters. In future, this will be the site of an invi­tin­g­ly desi­gned con­ve­ni­en­ce area, again with lots of appe­aling rea­dy-to-eat pro­ducts and beverages.

And if you’­re in the mood for even more varie­ty, you can be temp­ted by dif­fe­rent culi­na­ry delights while strol­ling through the open and spa­cious eth­nic mar­ket. The spe­cia­li­ties can be enjoy­ed at leisu­re at one of the cosy bar tables or in the adjoi­ning con­ser­va­to­ry, which with its 200 squa­re metres offers an open view of the all the comings and goings on the platforms.

A sensual promise

Pla­ced in the cent­re, as a worthy high­light in the his­to­ric hall of the west wing, is the glass-fron­ted food pro­duc­tion area. Fresh and hand­ma­de – a pro­mi­se who­se authen­ti­ci­ty you can easi­ly see for yourself at clo­se quar­ters. Unmistaka­ble tas­te that runs like a recur­rent the­me through the inte­rior design as well: black metal com­bi­ned with warm, cosy wood, expan­ded metal for more light­ness, grey ter­raz­zo and squa­re metal pipes. The set­ting is framed by his­to­ric wood panel­ling, stuc­co walls and won­der­ful­ly warm over­head ligh­t­ing. 320 metres of sen­sua­li­ty – a tre­at for the eyes, nose and palate.

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