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On 28 May 2006, after a 10-year period of construction, Lehrter Station, the largest railway station in Europe, will be opened. A new urban building type was to be created that would mark the intersection of major north-south and east-west railway routes. The spacious glazed halls with their broad openings are flooded with natural light, which penetrates down to the platforms below ground. The ceilings over the lowest two floors were designed as cross-vaulted structures to create a high-quality spatial environment. The 321-metre-long east-west platform hall with its slenderly articulated glazed roof is already complete (ill.A, B). Ultimately, it will cut through the middle of two 46-metre-high slab developments, the orientation and position of which will mark the north-south platforms below ground. Between these two “bridge” structures, which contain 50,000 m² of office space, lies the 43-metre-wide and 159-metre-long station hall. Ultimately, the development will serve as a business centre for the surrounding urban district. The gateway-like gesture of the north- and south-facing entrance facades links two parts of the city and accentuates the character of the station as a public building. The north-south hall is also covered by a glazed arch structure. The point of intersection between the main-line routes is marked by the crossing of the two halls – rather like that in a church – reflecting the idea of a “cathedral of mobility”.