Last week, the Board of Directors of VIA Metropolitan Transit in San Antonio, Texas, officially approved plans previously presented by the architecture design team from EE&K a Perkins Eastman company to construct Phase 2 of the Westside Multimodal Transit Center. This construction award comes mere weeks before the groundbreaking, which is scheduled for July.
The new 90,000-sf development will principally service San Antonio’s growing network of city bus and VIA PRIMO bus rapid transit service, including real-time arrival updates, as well as become an iconic public plaza for the city. The design team is led by Principal Stan Eckstut FAIA and Associate Principal Jonathan Cohn AIA, LEED AP.
The public plaza, comprising a full city block, will be encircled by a varied metal and glass Grand Canopy, approximately 50% of which is covered by a photovoltaic panel array that will generate a large portion of the electricity required to light the facility. The plaza’s expansive interior will feature a significant stand of cedar elm trees, while a permeable ground surface and underground detention systems will control stormwater runoff.
The EE&K a Perkins Eastman company team includes local architects Ford, Powell & Carson Inc., led by Principal Jay Louden AIA and Senior Associate Michael Guarino, and landscape architect Lawrence C. Clark ASLA, Vice President of Bender Wells Clark Design.
“This will be the next great place for San Antonio, and not just for transit riders” says Eckstut. “First and foremost, the plan for Westside Multimodal accommodates the site’s various transit elements, but the space is designed to draw people in for food, entertainment and leisure. We have designed a public square that will encourage future private investments and continue to revitalize the city’s Westside District.”
The design vision for Westside Multimodal Transit Center balances mass transit with open green space, mixed-use development, public art, educational signage, and a host of sustainable design features. The Center’s main entranceway will be located at the corner of Frio and Houston Streets, and clearly identifiable from long distances thanks to the planned “Light Tower” installation, designed by local San Antonio artist Bill Fitzgibbons.
The site is adjacent to the historic and newly renovated I&GN Station, which served as inspiration for the final design. The new facility will also further expand B-Cycle, the city’s bike share system, and plans are in the works for the Transit Center to accommodate future rail service as well.
Related Stories
| Dec 29, 2014
New mobile unit takes the worry out of equipment sterilization during healthcare construction [BD+C's 2014 Great Solutions Report]
Infection control, a constant worry for hospital administrators and clinical staffs, is heightened when the hospital is undergoing a major construction project. Mobile Sterilization Solutions, a mobile sterile-processing department, is designed to simplify the task. The technology was named a 2014 Great Solution by the editors of Building Design+Construction.
| Dec 29, 2014
Startup Solarbox London turns phone booths into quick-charge stations [BD+C's 2014 Great Solutions Report]
About 8,000 of London’s famous red telephone boxes sit unused in warehouses, orphans of the digital age. Two entrepreneurs plan to convert them into charging stations for mobile devices. Their invention was named a 2014 Great Solution by the editors of Building Design+Construction.
| Dec 29, 2014
Spherical reflectors help spread daylight throughout a college library in Portland, Ore. [BD+C's 2014 Great Solutions Report]
The 40,000-sf library is equipped with four “cones of light,” spherical reflectors made from extruded aluminum that distribute daylight from the library’s third floor to illuminate the second. The innovation was named a 2014 Great Solution by the editors of Building Design+Construction.
| Dec 29, 2014
Hard hat equipped with smartglass technology could enhance job site management [BD+C's 2014 Great Solutions Report]
Smart Helmet is equipped with an array of cameras that provides 360-degree vision through its glass visor, even in low light. It was named a 2014 Great Solution by the editors of Building Design+Construction.
| Dec 29, 2014
Clayco lends operational support and financing to construction services startups [BD+C's 2014 Great Solutions Report]
Design-build firm Clayco has launched an investment arm called Treehouse Adventures to provide financing and operational infrastructure to startups, including those serving the AEC industry. The new venture was named a 2014 Great Solution by the editors of Building Design+Construction.
| Dec 29, 2014
Reef Worlds to build world’s largest underwater theme park for luxury resort [BD+C's 2014 Great Solutions Report]
Dubai is known for its gargantuan commercial building projects. The latest to be proposed is the world’s largest underwater theme park, designed and built by Reef Worlds. The project was named a 2014 Great Solution by the editors of Building Design+Construction.
| Dec 29, 2014
New data-gathering tool for retail designers [BD+C's 2014 Great Solutions Report]
Beacon technology personalizes smartphone messaging, creating a new information resource for store designers. It was named a 2014 Great Solution by the editors of Building Design+Construction.
| Dec 29, 2014
Leo A Daly's minimally invasive approach to remote field site design [BD+C's 2014 Great Solutions Report]
For the past six years, Leo A Daly has been designing sites for remote field stations with near-zero ecological disturbance. The firm's environmentally delicate work was named a 2014 Great Solution by the editors of Building Design+Construction.
| Dec 29, 2014
Wearable job site management system allows contractors to handle deficiencies with subtle hand and finger gestures [BD+C's 2014 Great Solutions Report]
Technology combines a smartglass visual device with a motion-sensing armband to simplify field management work. The innovation was named a 2014 Great Solution by the editors of Building Design+Construction.
| Dec 29, 2014
From Ag waste to organic brick: Corn stalks reused to make construction materials [BD+C's 2014 Great Solutions Report]
Ecovative Design applies its cradle-to-cradle process to produce 10,000 organic bricks used to build a three-tower structure in Long Island City, N.Y. The demonstration project was named a 2014 Great Solution by the editors of Building Design+Construction.