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Rabat – The Kenitra train station won the “Special Prize Exterior,” one of three prizes awarded in the category “Passenger Stations 2019.”
The Prix Versailles is an annual international architecture prize, rewarding buildings that bring together architectural beauty and commercial functionality.
“Everyday architecture can be a lever for sustainable development where ecological, social and cultural dimensions intersect,” reminds the award’s description.
The purpose of the prize is to “send a lasting message about the crucial, universal role played by those facilities in fostering social, economic and cultural exchanges,” explains a Prix Versailles press release.
The Kenitra train station was opened in November 2018. Built as a transit hub for Morocco’s high speed rail through Kenitra, north of Rabat, the station cost MAD 400 million. It was designed by Silvio d’Ascia Architecture, an international design agency based in Paris, alongside Moroccan firm Omar Kobbité Architectes. Erik Giudice Architecture, based in Stockholm and Paris, also took part in the design as a subcontractor of Omar Kobbité Architectes during the initial phase of the project
Six train stations from around the world were selected in May to compete for the Passenger Stations award of the Prix Versailles.
Half of the selected competitors were Moroccan projects: the Kenitra station, Tanger-Ville station in Tangier, and Rabat-Agdal station. The other competitors were Yangcheng Lake “Tourist Transportation Center” in Suzhou, China (which won the overall Prix Versaille in the category), “Helix Cruise Center” in Barcelona, Spain, and “Montpellier Sud de France Train Station” in France (which won the prize for best interior).
The three award winners in the Passenger Stations category will come together with the winners of the sports, campuses, hotels, shopping malls, and restaurant categories at the UNESCO Headquarters in Paris on September 12 for the Prix Versailles world awards ceremony.
