Recently, a project led by Professor Chen Zhihua from Tianjin University was awarded the 2017 Special Annual Prize by the China Steel Construction Society (CSCS). The research, focusing on a large-span single-layer reticular structure with a double helix, was successfully applied in the designing of Yujiapu Station and is the world’s first and the only building with a large-span single-layer dome. 

On September 20, 2015, Yujiapu Station officially went into operation. Situated in a rural area of Tianjin, it significantly shortens the commuting times between Beijing, the city center of Tianjin and the Binhai District. It is astonishing that it only takes 59 minutes to travel from Beijing to Yujiapu and 22 minutes from Tianjin to Yujiapu.  

The Yujiapu Station is fine and delicate in design. Deriving inspiration from nautilus shells and the Sunflowers, the architects made the building into a shell structure extended from a grand spiral grid structure, creating a distinctive and bright visual effect. There are two innovations that make the Station so special: one is the aesthetically pleasing form of the grid’s intricate design, and the other is the rare large-span dome construction based on the new innovation of the designers from Tianjin University. The newly built Station is now regarded as a prominent landmark of the Binhai District for millions of passengers from all over the world. 

Editors: Sun Xiaofang and Ross Colquhoun