Hyperloop Certification Center

TUCKER AND GRANT COUNTIES, UNITED STATES

CLIENT

Virgin Hyperloop

TYPOLOGY

Infrastructure

STATUS

IDEA

Hyperloop will fundamentally change the way we travel and, in the process, redefine the parameters that shape any mode of transportation. The paradigm shift requires setting new standards for technology, operation, and safety, as well as comfort and passenger experience.

Along with the technological development of the transportation system, the Hyperloop Certification Center is the next milestone in demonstrating the operation of the system as a commercial product. An 800-acre site in West Virginia will include a welcome center, a six-mile certification track, a pod final assembly facility, a product development test center, and training center for operations, safety, and maintenance.

Serving as a regulatory proving ground of sorts, the role of the HCC is a critical one as it serves as the necessary next step in taking proven technology and demonstrating to regulators and certifiers that it works and is safe for passengers.

Since the infrastructure is the most important element, the rest of the program is integrated with it as much as possible. In order to create a physical interface, the elevated vacuum tube wraps around itself and descends as a gentle ramp, ending in an airlock that allows for save entry and exits for pods. While the pill shaped loop of the tube forms the exterior façade of the facility, the support structure gets extended towards the interior as a sequence of concrete frames with fileted corners for lateral support.

INFRASTRUCTURE + INTERFACE + ARCHITECTURE

Passenger Pod — The Hyperloop passenger pod is the first of its kind and will redefine the way we travel. Therefore it must go through a rigorous testing and approval process to define safety protocols and refine the operation.

Vacuum Tube — The main infrastructure of the HCC is an approximately six mile-long tube that can maintain the low pressure environment needed.

Interface — HCC is connected to one of the ends of the tube where pods can enter and leave through an airlock. This also offers the opportunity to simulate and test the passenger interface of the commercial system, where people can enter and leave the pod while it remains in the low pressure tube.

Program — Other than the infrastructure and interface, the facility will include a welcome center, pod final assembly facility, product development test center, and training center for operations, safety, and maintenance.

Structure — The main structural system for the building is shared with the vacuum tube. For greater lateral stability, the corners have been reinforced with a radius on top and bottom, and frames with pill-shaped cutouts.

Enclosure — By adding a flat roof and simple glass facade enclosure between the frames, the enclosure in plan becomes a rational and modular low-res version of the tube's curved radius.

Courtyard — A courtyard in the center of the facility provides daylight to all of the program while maintaining visual connectivity. It can be used for test set-ups, staging, large gatherings and as social space for the staff, similar to Virgin Hyperloop's LA campus.

Roof, floors and glass facades are infilled between the frames and form a simple warehouse-like structure that organizes the program as a continuous loop around a central courtyard.

The outdoor space can be used for assembly and testing of pod components, large gatherings, and as social space for the staff. It provides visual connections between the different departments and references the courtyard of Virgin Hyperloop’s LA campus. The facility also houses a test portal, that provides a passenger interface into the pods while they remain in the vacuum tube. This first prototype will be applied in the first commercial Hyperloop portals and continue HCC’s legacy of the first architecture turned Hyperloop infrastructure project.

Bjarke Ingels Jakob Lange Gary Polk Kelly Neill Max Moriyama Nojan Adami Shane Dalke Sören Grünert Thomas McMurtrie Tracy Sodder Anton Bashkaev Izabella Banas Mengzhu Jiang Nicolas Lapierre Ravina Puri