A long-shuttered rail station in Fresno, Calif., will be renovated to serve as the city’s high speed rail (HSR) station as part of the California High-Speed Rail Authority system, the nation’s first high speed rail project. California’s HSR system will eventually link more than 800 miles of rail, served by up to 24 stations.
Design firm Page & Turnbull will work on the historic station, with a focus on accessibility updates, upgrades to meet modern fire and life-safety codes and structural and seismic standards, and the rehabilitation of key architectural features of the historic Queen Anne-style depot, built of red brick with a slate bellcast hip-roof and cupolas. Foster + Partners will design a new intermodal station at the site.
The new HSR hub will connect the historic transit depot’s former passenger and freight train stations, as realized through extensive, preliminary site surveys and 3D modeling. Attention to strengthening the buildings’ structural and seismic integrity is a priority, potentially through discrete structural approaches that will preserve the buildings’ original brick walls, such as the integration of obscured concrete columns.
The historic train depot is listed in the National Register of Historic Places. It opened in 1872 as the Central Pacific Railroad station and was later developed into the Southern Pacific Depot, whose service ceased in the early 1970s. The site includes the historic passenger depot, freight depot/railway express agency building, and Pullman Shed.
As a part of the Phase 1, 119-mile Central Valley segment of the California HSR system that also includes Northern and Southern California segments, the 65-mile project section between Merced and Fresno link the Central Valley and Silicon Valley with stations in downtown Fresno and downtown Merced. The Central Valley segment will connect San Francisco to Los Angeles in less than three hours, with service expected to begin in 2027.
When complete, the 800-mile system from Sacramento to San Diego, will include an anticipated 24 HSR stations, with arriving and departing trains travelling at some 200 miles per hour. Phase 1’s 520-mile segment consists of the San Francisco/Merced to Los Angeles/Anaheim section.
Owner and/or developer: California High-Speed Rail Authority
Architect of record for intermodal station: Foster + Partners
Architect of record for historic station: Page & Turnbull
Engineers for intermodal station: Arup
Related Stories
| Sep 19, 2013
What we can learn from the world’s greenest buildings
Renowned green building author, Jerry Yudelson, offers five valuable lessons for designers, contractors, and building owners, based on a study of 55 high-performance projects from around the world.
| Sep 19, 2013
6 emerging energy-management glazing technologies
Phase-change materials, electrochromic glass, and building-integrated PVs are among the breakthrough glazing technologies that are taking energy performance to a new level.
| Sep 19, 2013
Roof renovation tips: Making the choice between overlayment and tear-off
When embarking upon a roofing renovation project, one of the first decisions for the Building Team is whether to tear off and replace the existing roof or to overlay the new roof right on top of the old one. Roofing experts offer guidance on making this assessment.
Smart Buildings | Sep 13, 2013
Chicago latest U.S. city to mandate building energy benchmarking
The Windy City is the latest U.S. city to enact legislation that mandates building energy benchmarking and disclosure for owners of large commercial and residential buildings.
| Sep 13, 2013
Chicago latest U.S. city to mandate building energy benchmarking
The Windy City is the latest U.S. city to enact legislation that mandates building energy benchmarking and disclosure for owners of large commercial and residential buildings.
| Sep 11, 2013
BUILDINGChicago eShow Daily – Day 3 coverage
Day 3 coverage of the BUILDINGChicago/Greening the Heartland conference and expo, taking place this week at the Holiday Inn Chicago Mart Plaza.
| Sep 10, 2013
BUILDINGChicago eShow Daily – Day 2 coverage
The BD+C editorial team brings you this real-time coverage of day 2 of the BUILDINGChicago/Greening the Heartland conference and expo taking place this week at the Holiday Inn Chicago Mart Plaza.
| Sep 4, 2013
Augmented reality goes mainstream: 12 applications for design and construction firms
Thanks to inexpensive mobile devices and increasingly advanced software apps, Building Teams are finally able to bring their BIM models to life on the job site.
| Aug 30, 2013
Local Government Report [2013 Giants 300 Report]
Building Design+Construction's rankings of the nation's largest local government design and construction firms, as reported in the 2013 Giants 300 Report.
| Aug 30, 2013
State Government Report [2013 Giants 300 Report]
Stantec, Jacobs, PCL Construction among nation's top state government design and construction firms, according to BD+C's 2013 Giants 300 Report.
