‘Zukunft Bahn - Warten 21’ is the programme with which Deutsche Bahn supplies 21 stations of new seating and new waiting rooms. Blom&Moors received the assignment for the design of these new station furnishings, partly as a result of our designs for the new equipment for the Dutch railway stations. 
The new seating and waiting pavilion are designed and developed within a year. They are currently being tested at Wolfsburg Hauptbahnhof. Underneath the monumental platform roof, the smallest of the three standard waiting areas is realised in which all aspects to be examined are integrated. Along the platform, outside the platform roof, the resistance against wind and weather of the bench is being tested. After the pilot the design will be optimized.

Assignment
Deutsche Bahn asked for a comfortable and heated waiting area in which travellers like to stay. Because of the possibility to allow appropriate arrangements in all sorts of situations, inside and outside, it was relevant to develop the seating elements as a flexible system.

Design concept
Blom&Moors designs station furnishings through the eye of the traveller. The high-quality design primary contributes to the orientation and comfort during travel and stay. By carefully rounding clear and straight forms and making use of warm materials and colours, we design objects that look tight and quiet from a distance, and when more close, feel friendly and pleasant to touch. Comfort is provided by the bamboo seating profile of the benches, by the clarity of the transparent waiting rooms, pleasantly heated and lit, by access to USB connections in the pillow-shaped armrests of the bench and digital information by means of a monitor.

The benches 
The new series station benches with bamboo seat, backrest and armrests consists of models that can be placed as well freestanding as as a wall model, in one line and/or opposite to each other. So travellers can sit next to and/or opposite to each other. The benches can be applied on the platform and in the waiting rooms, the station hall and indoor waiting rooms.

The pavilion
The new waiting room looks spacious and bright. Elegant steel columns with a characteristic profile carry the construction, surrounded by mere glass. The modular construction system consists of various models, all with the same details and careful selected sustainable materials.
The bench is situated in the middle of the pavilion so you can see from the outside who is inside, and once inside, have a complete view on the environment. Travellers, also wheelers, can easily move around.