MAIN STREET STATION REDESIGN
In December 2006, Hotson Bakker Boniface Haden Architects + Urbanistes, BTY Quantity Surveyors Ltd., and Earth Tech Consulting Engineers were engaged by Translink to undertake schematic design and costing for renovations to the Main Street Expo Line Skytrain Station.
Key Design Considerations
• Enhancement of elevator and escalator access to the east end of the platform.
• Improving visual and experiential connections between the bus pick up and
drop off points (on both sides of Main Street) and the station entries.
• Enhancement of the mezzanine level on the west side of the platform.
• Enhancement of general pedestrian flow on both sides of the platform.
• Enhancement of adjacency challenges with respect to adjoining retail and residential space on the west side of Main Street.
• Improving the urban design condition.
• Increasing the revenue opportunities for the station if possible.
• Improving the platform experience.
• Enhancing the station’s overall architectural, visual and experiential qualities.
Design Solution
Skytrain/Bus Connection Improvements
- The design proposes extended canopies (bus shelters) on both sides of Main Street to enhance links between the Skytrain and the bus loading and offloading. In addition, stairs and escalators are reoriented to face Main Street.
Eastside Improvements
- A new station house is provided on the east side with reoriented two stage escalators, an elevator, and an architecturally unique oval security screen.
Westside Improvements
- A re-alignment and addition of an escalator onto the eastern face of the platform provides a direct visual link between the vertical circulation to the mezzanine level and the major bus offloading and loading point. The existing south facing entry will be upgraded with the an escalator and stairs will be
replaced. New retail space will be inserted along the Terminal Avenue street front.
Platform Improvements
- The existing platform remains intact with the exception of the east end addition. Architectural improvements include a clip-on to conceal the existing truss structure and a new glass safety barrier to replace the existing chain link barrier.
Cost
- $9.693 million
Preferred Option
The preferred option was then developed in terms of architectural form.
1) Skytrain/Bus Connection Improvements
In order to enhance the links between the Skytrain and the bus loading and offloading points on both side of the street, the preferred design proposes extended canopies (bus shelters) on both side of Main Street. The intention of these canopies is to allow transferring passengers to move under cover
from the bus to the Skytrain station and vice versa. In addition, in order to enhance these links, stairs and escalators are reoriented to face Main Street on both the west and east side of the platform.
2) Eastside Improvements
The insertion of a new station house on the east side with reoriented two stage escalators, and elevator, and an architecturally unique oval security screen is proposed. This accommodates the enhanced functional requirements for both escalators and elevators, minimizes the platform extension, and provides a dramatic architectural statement of station enhancement.
3) Westside Improvements
On the west side, a re-alignment and addition of an escalator on to the eastern face of the platform provides a direct visual link between the vertical circulation to the mezzanine level and the major bus offloading and loading point. While this design requires the reconfiguration of the existing Starbucks, it will enhance pedestrian flow and visual links between the bus passengers and the Skytrain entry. In addition the existing south facing entry will be upgraded with the addition of an escalator and the replacement of the stairs. Finally, new retail space will be inserted along the Terminal Avenue street
front. These new commercial spaces will enhance revenue opportunities and provide an inhabited streetscape along Terminal, while reducing the number of overhung dead spaces. This will have a positive impact from a CPTED perspective.
4) Platform Improvements
After reviewing several alternatives, it was decided that the most cost effective solution was to maintain the structure of the existing platform intact. This meant that there could be no increases (with the exception of the eastside escalator and elevator) to platform access capacity. Because of the nature of the existing station geometry any substantial increase in platform size would be extraordinarily costly. Consequently the focus was on an appropriate configuration of enhanced access at the street and mezzanine level. However, the east side enhancements would provide a much more effective way of accessing a somewhat undersized platform.
The design proposes a clip-on to conceal the existing truss structure of the platform roof. The intention of this clip-on is that there be a visual transformation of the canopy of the Main Street Station without any structural interventions. The agenda would be to create an aluminum face to the north and south side of the existing canopy structure. A lighting feature would be incorporated in this face. The clip on would allow the preservation of the existing skylights.
In addition, one of the weakest design aspects of the existing station is the chain link safety barrier. This is both visually unacceptable and does not provide any screening for the adjoining residences. The preferred design proposes a replacement of the chainlink fence with a glass railing. This glazing
could also provide a dramatic signage opportunity indicating both the name of the station and that of adjoining areas or buildings such as Southeast False Creek and/or Science World. The new barrier would also resolve the ongoing problem of neighbor complaints about lack of privacy.
Proposed Ground Floor Plan
Proposed Mezzaine and Eastern Landing Floor Plans
Proposed Platform Floor Plan
