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The Tren Maya Station in Tulum is Already a Fact
The Mexican architecture office Aidia Studio has designed a train station for Tulum to be built on the Tren Maya railway line in Mexico.
Aidia Studio designed the perforated ceiling made of structural steel and glass-reinforced concrete panels to enclose the platforms and the lobby of the new Tulum station. The geometric grid will be glazed in places to prevent rain and lined with wood on the inside.
A Station Designed for Tulum's Climate
The studio designed the station to respond to the climate of Tulum, which has a tropical climate characterized by high temperatures, humidity and a rainy season.
To cope with this extreme climate, we envisioned a large open lattice roof, glazed in strategic locations, allowing semi-open public spaces that function without mechanical ventilation.
— Rolando Rodríguez-Leal and Natalia Wrzask, founders of Aidia Studio.
Materials and Roof Geometry
The roof will be made of steel and concrete with some areas of glazing. Smaller openings in areas that receive the midday sun are integrated into the ceiling pattern, which is designed to create shaded locations and allow the sea breeze to flow through the station.
The ceiling is higher in the middle to accommodate a second level of shops and restaurants on a mezzanine level above the rail lines and platforms.
The motifs on both the exterior and interior are reminiscent of traditional Mayan geometric patterns.
— Aidia Studio.
Minimizing the Footprint
The lattice roof will allow sunlight and breeze to enter the station. Aidia Studio said they were eager to make sure the station took up as little space in the landscape as possible.
An eye-shaped footprint, wider in the center where the station's main functions converge, seemed like the most efficient use of space. This was improved by taking the smallest possible area adjacent to the tracks and offsetting by stacking the station's public program on the platforms.
— Aidia Studio.
Part of the Wider Mayan Train Project
A mezzanine with shops and a restaurant will cross the platforms of the Tulum train station. The station is part of the Mayan Train, a plan to build a 1,525-kilometer interurban railway through the Yucatán Peninsula in a circuit between Palenque and Cancún.
This station would serve the section of the line from Cancún to Tulum. The construction of the Tulum train station is due to begin in January 2022 and be completed by the end of 2023.
Recent projects in the seaside town include a pink apartment complex, vacation residences with swimming pools on the roof and a bamboo yoga pavilion.
In Summary
The Tulum station is more than infrastructure: it is climate-aware architecture rooted in Mayan visual culture, designed to keep tourist flows efficient while respecting the landscape. For real estate, it is one more reason the Riviera Maya keeps consolidating as a connected, long-term destination.