Yufuin station is an entrance to the Yufuin Onsen, located 50 kilometers towards inland from Ohita City with a view of Mount Yufu. Over three million tourists visit Yufuin annually. Due to the increasing popularity the Japan Railway in Kyushu and the Yufuin town set up a joint effort to renovate Yufuin Station. The basic design concept was that the new station building was designed to function not only as train station, but also as cultural information center, and a new symbol of Yufuin.
The new station consists of a concourse located on the axis connecting Mount Yufu and the shopping district, and a staff office and a waiting room/ event hall are located on both sides, and the corridor runs along the entrance plaza. The dynamic volumetric space above the concourse, twelve meters in height, consists of a nine-meter cubic frame with cross-vault roof of laminated wood. Special features, such as high sidelights, floorheating system using hot spring energy, entry/exit area without ticket gates, new display system of timetable and fare table, use of Light Emitting Diode display and so on, completely changed the conventional image of train station. The new station building can also be used for small concerts and other events.
The roof over the staff office and the waiting room consists of combination of laminated timber bow-shaped truss and tension bars, creating a completely open space. We intended to fully activate the particular experience of "waiting for a train" in this space, so we designed a waiting room with skylight that can also be used as event hall. The walls are all painted white and detachable panels are installed on the windows to be used for exhibitions.