The double-track platform at Kraków Balice, complete with shelter and roofing, is the result of comprehensive modernisation works at Kraków Airport. The new station's bright glass façade makes it stand out from afar.
A key design principle was to integrate the station into the airport's expansive architecture and ensure maximum passenger comfort. To achieve this, the architects opted for numerous glazing elements made of horizontally arranged Pilkington Profilit™ channel glass.
The designers created two types of glass partition using the same glass: blinds to cover the main station area and a curtain wall for the vertical communication elements, such as stairs, a passenger lift and a moving walkway leading to the terminal footbridge.
The most important and visible part of the station's façade features unique, custom-designed louvre glazing. The result is an original spatial structure that allows natural light to penetrate during the day and creates a subtle interplay of light at night. Over 1,250 square metres of Pilkington Profilit™ K 25/60/7 T toughened channel glass was used to construct the glass platform canopy in the form of individual panels arranged horizontally on special brackets and cascading over each other.
The corridor glazing features a unique single-layer glazing solution that ensures maximum illumination of the corridors with soft, diffused light. The individual panes of glass make the shapes behind them visible while blurring their contours, ensuring contact with the outside environment and increasing the sense of space for passengers.
Due to the high volume of foot traffic, the glazing uses toughened glass with increased strength and high resistance to damage or accidental breakage. To meet the most stringent requirements, 7 mm thick glass was used for the platform and corridor glazing.