Site
The new metro station 20 is an important stop on the main line between the city centre and Sofia International Airport. The station forms the focal point for urban redevelopment of the area as a new district centre consisting of a shopping mall, retail spaces, offices and generous open spaces consisting of squares and green zones. The design establishes an active harmonious connection between architecture and landscape.

Plot
The rectilinear structure of the site is influenced by the grid and scale of the neighbouring high-density residential blocks of the Druzhba residential district. The angular direction of the landscape reflects the existing structure of the site boundaries. This generates a visual reading that allows for a structured subdivision of the public space - into green zones, squares, and pathways that create connections to and from the new subway station.

Architecture
The main access to the concourse level of the new subway station is through a large forecourt, which is oriented towards the main intersection and creates sufficient space between the access to the subway and the existing bus stops. The generous, free-form canopy develops like a wave from the landscape while bringing the forecourt down to understand and define the entrance to the subway station as a public space. Made of a lightweight cantilevered steel structure covered with white, non-combustible membranes, the elegant entrance sculpture reflects the illuminated underworld of the new subway station within and transports it to the outside.

Concourse
The station is planned for 120,000 passengers daily. Generous entrances and exits, intuitive orientation in the station, and maximization of natural lighting are intended to increase safety, the personal well-being of each passenger, and enable exciting, experiential spatial impressions.

The planned concourse level was expanded to include generous retail space, on the one hand, to capitalize on the economic potential of the many daily passengers and, on the other hand, to create a functional and spatially high-quality underground connection to the adjacent shopping centre.