The design of what will be India’s deepest station has been tweaked to make its roof “waterproof” and the premises greener and more energy-friendly. The original design of East-West Metro’s Howrah station — which will be 30m deep, equivalent to 10 storeys — was created in mid-2017. The roof had a series of pyramidal structures, which architects feared might lead to water leakage during rain because of their joints. “The design would have made upkeep of the roof difficult because of the sheer number of joints. There could be water leakage during rain. So, we decided to change the design. We will now have a flat roof with geometrical skylights,” said Debashis Dey, lead architect of Afcons, Calcutta, which is building the station. Calcutta airport’s roof has a large number of joints, too, and it leaks during rain.

Dey and three other architects prepared the new design, drawing inspiration from a Chinese railway station. Metro takes a look at the new design

Reporting by Sanjay Mandal; the artist’s impressions were provided by Afcons