Kenitra Train Station

This train station is part of the first link of Morocco’s high-speed rail line project, which aims to provide the country with 1,500 km of high-speed rail lines by 2030, and, among other things, which will enable urban areas and business zones adjacent to two economic centres, composed of the two Moroccan maritime hubs, to be connected: the Atlantic Port of Casablanca and the Mediterranean Tangiers Med.

A design worthy of its role was therefore required and it is the Moroccan architect Omar Kobbité, partner in the Italian firm Silvio Dascia, who accepted the challenge by using Ductal® Envelope solution.

In the first instance, Ductal® UHPC enables original shapes to be designed (in this case, triangles when the majority of projects are designed with rectangular panels), meeting both the client’s expectations and the architect’s desires, but also standing out from traditional materials, reinforcing the idea of innovation and dynamism.

The building’s facade measures 6,225 m² and is made up of around 4,175 3D Ductal® Envelope panels, triangular in shape and white on both sides. Measuring 1.37 m wide by 1.18 m high, and between 1.5 cm (in height) and 2 cm thick (for greater resistance at ground level), these monolithic panels are composed of a flat plane, the exterior surface, and a vertical return, which allows inserts and attachments to be installed in order to attach the panels to the building’s metallic structure. All wood and glass parts are assembled on-site once the panels were installed.

Although the elements appear identical, with a sober design, the triangular panels were complex to calculate and install, and slight adjustments were required in order to achieve the expected outcome. Precasting engineers had to utilise both their knowledge and the characteristics of Ductal® Envelope in order to find a solution that was both technically and economically viable, enabling the panels to be aligned while absorbing any dimensional deviations from the metallic structures and complying with the architect's initial expectation.