SPANISH BUS STOP ACTS AS URBAN OASIS
11 Mar 2026
An urban space in Elche, Spain, that lacked pedestrian facilities has been transformed by the addition of mere bus stop. The build acts as a refuge for both passersby and those using transport, surrounding them with shade, greenery and a space to stop and chat.
Text description provided by the architects. This is a new urban space conceived as a place for exchange. A climate refuge where shade, vegetation, and various modes of being create a new city landscape that opens up to the slope of the nearby Vinalopó River.
It sensitively, accessibly, and sustainably addresses a pre-existing urban space that lacked spatial or environmental quality, where vehicular traffic predominated over pedestrian movement, transforming it into a new mobility node that seeks to integrate public transport with bicycle mobility, promoting more sustainable travel in the city through the introduction of parking areas and public bike stations, ticket machines, restrooms, covered waiting areas, and real-time information systems.
Three concrete pergolas with low-maintenance green roofs are inserted into this new pedestrian street designed for "being." The benches are designed to enjoy the urban space in various ways. The circular planter-bench allows users to take advantage of the shade of the pergola while waiting for the bus at any time of day. Linear benches delineate boundaries that separate staying from transit, while small cylindrical benches introduce a more playful character and allow for social interaction.
The vegetation is integrated to seek continuity with the nature visible in the Vinalopó River's course, alongside which it is implemented. The green roofs provide a friendly image of the space from the tall buildings in the surroundings. Additionally, they offer environmental benefits, achieving greater thermal insulation due to their high thermal inertia. They help mitigate the urban heat island effect caused in these areas by the overheating of "hard" surfaces, accumulating less heat during the day and being able to cool the air at night. They also act as ecological sinks for greenhouse gases like CO2 (an extensive roof of sedums like these captures around 1.387 kg of CO2 per m²), capable of retaining air pollutants, increasing relative humidity, and producing oxygen.
In the office module for sales and restrooms, the evapotranspiration generated by the green roof not only regulates the temperature on the roof's surface and prevents heat flow into the interior space, but also acts as passive cooling during hotter periods by extracting heat from the building. The green roof system used incorporates recycled elements within its components, even utilizing substrates made from reused construction ceramic materials to enhance and lighten its structure.
For the surface treatment of this new urban space, a concrete paver with photocatalytic treatment has been used, which reduces toxic compounds in the atmosphere and eliminates the presence of bacteria and germs in the environment. This is a project that transforms daily movement into an urban experience.
LOCATION Elche, Spain
