Architecture
Metro motifs, part 2: Above-ground stations
Monday, we looked at the designs of Metro's underground stations and their signature vaults. The above-ground stations cannot have the large vaults, but Metro's designers took steps to maintain architectural continuity.
Gull Wing I: In order to maintain the connectivity of the architectural elements of the system, the surface and elevated stations had a vault-like roof consisting of sweeping concrete 'wings.' I refer to this design as the Gull Wing I design. It is characteristic of the older outdoor stations.
The first Gull Wing I station opened on opening day in 1976, Rhode Island Avenue. The most recent station to receive this motif was the lower level of Fort Totten, which was not constructed at the same time as the Red Level, but in 1993, with the opening of the Line to Greenbelt.
All but two Gull Wing I stations have island platforms (platform is between the tracks). National Airport actually has two island Gull Wing I canopies separated by a center track. Cheverly and Eisenhower Avenue have side platforms, but still have the Gull Wing I roofs in a modified design. At National Airport, a canopy extension in the early 2000s did not keep the same style, so the station also features a unique design.
Gull Wing I designs can be found at 15 stations:
- 1976 – Rhode Island Avenue
- 1977 – National Airport* - (canopy extension installed in early 2000s does not match)
- 1978 – Brookland, Fort Totten (upper level), Takoma, Silver Spring, Minnesota Avenue, Deanwood, Cheverly, Landover, New Carrollton
- 1983 – Eisenhower Avenue
- 1984 – Twinbrook, Shady Grove
- 1991 – Van Dorn Street
- 1993 – Fort Totten (lower level, partial coverage)
 Eisenhower Avenue |  Rhode Island Ave |
Peaked Roof I: The next design, Peaked Roof I, is found at 2 stations only: Braddock Road and King Street in Alexandria, on the Blue and Yellow Lines. The Peaked Roof I design consists of a steeply sloped roof with skylights in the center.
Peaked Roof I appeared in 1983 with the opening of the Yellow Line extension to Alexandria. It's interesting to note that when King Street's canopy was extended a few years ago, the same architectural style was maintained, but a gap was left above King Street itself so as not to impede the view of the George Washington Masonic Tower.
King Street
Peaked Roof II: A more common design, Peaked Roof II can be found at many surface stations. It consists of a flat roof over the platform with a section of clear skylights forming a peak in the center (along a line parallel to the tracks).
This style was introduced with Grosvenor in 1984. Except for Van Dorn Street and the lower level of Fort Totten, it was the style of choice for the remainder of the Adopted Regional (103 mile) System, completed in 2001 with the extension to Branch Avenue.
Unlike Gull Wing I, there are no side platform stations with a Peaked II roof. West Falls Church has a modified design because of the third track in the center of the station. However, unlike National Airport, it does not have separate canopies, instead having one canopy stretching across all three tracks. The peaked Plexiglas panels run parallel to the tracks over both platforms.
Peaked Roof II can be found at 15 stations:
- 1980 – Addison Road
- 1984 – Grosvenor, White Flint, Rockville
- 1986 – East Falls Church, West Falls Church*, Dunn Loring, Vienna
- 1993 – College Park, Greenbelt
- 1997 – Franconia-Springfield
- 2001 – Southern Avenue, Naylor Road, Suitland, Branch Avenue
 College Park |  White Flint |
Gull Wing II: The newest design for the Metro returns to the gull-wing style, but differs greatly in many aspects from earlier designs. There are notable differences in color, materials, and motif elements. These stations are all of those constructed beyond the original system (which was completed in January of 2001). This design can be found at only 3 stations: New York Avenue on the Red Line and Morgan Boulevard and Largo Town Center on the Blue Line. All three of these stations opened in 2004.
 New York Avenue |  Largo |
Unique Designs: Several stations differ from these basic designs. They are worthy of mention because of their nonconformity. There are 5 unique stations in the system out of 86 stations total.
- 1977 – Arlington Cemetery (Blue)
- 1983 - Huntington (Yellow)
- 1991 – Anacostia (Green)
- 1993 – West Hyattsville, Prince George's Plaza (Green)
 Prince George's Plaza |  Anacostia |
Future Stations: The Silver Line, which will run from Stadium-Armory to Wiehle Avenue in Reston, will add at least one new architectural type to the system.
Next: Metro's design motifs include more than just the roofs over each station. Pylons, tiles, canopies and more round out Metro's ditinctive appearance.
Note: The nomenclature (Peaked Roof, etc.) for this post comes from Washington's page at World.NYCSubway.org.
 | Matt Johnson has lived in the Washington region since mid-2007. He has a Master's degree in Community Planning from the University of Maryland and a BS in Public Policy from Georgia Tech. He has worked in the planning field since 2006 and lives in Greenbelt, where he serves on the city's Advisory Planning Board.    |
Comments
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by coneyraven on Aug 26, 2009 4:42 pm • link • report
by Erik on Aug 26, 2009 5:49 pm • link • report
Silver Spring's platform is also curved.
by Reza on Aug 26, 2009 6:01 pm • link • report
by Matthew on Aug 26, 2009 8:10 pm • link • report
What is that?
Yep, it's the nerd-alert going of again. Only wonks allowed!
Wonderful stuff!
by Jasper on Aug 26, 2009 8:45 pm • link • report
King Street and Bradock Road stations were given that canopy design at the request of the City Of Alexandria. The City Of Alexandria felt the concrete gull wing canopy would clash with the colonial architecture found in Old Town Alexandria. The wall treatments in the two Old Town Alexandria stations are also different compared to other stations in the system. Red brick veneer is used in lieu the more common vertical V grove cast in place concrete. WMATA's original plan was to use typical vertical V grove walls and concrete gull wing canopies in those stations.
The Anacostia station really doesn't belong in the description with the surface station.
Its unique design has to do with where it is located in relationship to sea level. The south bank of the Anacostia River is sedimentary soil. Building the station with a typical vaulted arch would have required the station to be deeper.
The architecture of the N Route Silver line station will be radically different then the second generation surface station designs used in the Morgan Boulevard, Largo Town Center and New York Avenue stations.
Sideshow renderings of the Phase I stations can be seen at the Dulles Metrorail Map and Station Information page at www.dullesmetro.com/.
Plans and profiles are in Volume V of the FEIS for all 11 station, They can be downloaded in PDF format from the Final Environmental Impact Statement and Section 4(f) Evaluation page.
WMATA built provisions into the J Route Blue line at the foot of Quaker Lane for future station. The platform for the stations would be between the cellular telephone tower shadow and the building between the tracks.
View Larger Map
by Sand Box John on Aug 26, 2009 11:15 pm • link • report
But more importantly, the new stations are fugly ersatz-modernist kitsch.
by цarьchitect on Aug 27, 2009 1:19 am • link • report
by цarьchitect on Aug 27, 2009 1:20 am • link • report
by Alex B. on Aug 27, 2009 9:11 am • link • report
As always, you provide excellent details and information. Thanks.
On the Anacostia note, though, it's not actually in the above ground section. All three of the Metro posts (there's one more tomorrow) were written as one post. David took the initiative to split them. Because Unique stations were listed last in station designs, they ended up in the second post, which mostly deals with above ground stations.
It should be pointed out that Anacostia is indeed below ground, although not by very much. The initial station location was to be closer to the intersection of MLK and Good Hope, but the water table would not permit it. It was moved further south, but the water table still made for complicated construction.
by Matt Johnson on Aug 27, 2009 9:30 am • link • report
One of the pre adopted ARS plan maps showed a station at that location. Another pre adopted ARS plan maps showed the Eisenhower Avenue station west of the yard at Telegraph Road.
The Eisenhower Avenue area of west of Telegraph Road was and still is ripe for high density development. When WMATA started construction on the C route and the yard in Alexandria. there were only 3 building in the vicinity of the Eisenhower Avenue station, The DOD office building, the Holiday Inn and the warehouse west of Telegraph Road.
Alex B:
In a word, Yes.
I think they are hideously ugly. My bias is based on the fact that I am a Harry Weese purest. The drawing of the station in the FEIS utilize the post 103 mile system surface station designs. Post FEIS refinement of the architecture utilizes some of the elements used in the newest stations but in general they are radically different. See Dulles Metrorail Map and Station Information for rendering of the Phase I stations.
by Sand Box John on Aug 27, 2009 9:33 am • link • report
My revised 1070 ARS map has the Anacostia station at the intersection of Good Hope Road and Minnesota Avenue. The alignment routing to where the Naylor Road station is today was along Good Hope Road and Naylor Road. The Alabama Avenue station was to be at the intersection of Denver Street and Naylor Road SE. It is my understanding that the alignment was changed because of the high costs of boring the tunnels along Good Hope Road and building the station at and Minnesota Avenue, extensive cost of underpinning the building on either side of the narrow easement to dig the tunnels and build the station. The alignment change tipped off a proposal to change the alignment in Princes George's County that resulted in a court battle, but that another story.
by Sand Box John on Aug 27, 2009 9:58 am • link • report
by xtr657 on Aug 27, 2009 11:37 am • link • report
by Erik on Aug 27, 2009 1:00 pm • link • report
by Josh on Aug 27, 2009 1:14 pm • link • report
by Michael Perkins on Aug 27, 2009 1:55 pm • link • report
Grand airport? We're talking about Dulles here.
by Jasper on Aug 27, 2009 5:03 pm • link • report
Are you talking about getting between terminals on the "mobile lounges"?
by ah on Aug 27, 2009 5:34 pm • link • report
by Joey on Aug 27, 2009 7:26 pm • link • report
Here are the drawings of the Dulles Airport station from the FEIS. (3.29 MB PDF file) The best I can discern from the drawings, the portion of the station with an arched vault will look like the 6 coffer arched vault. The mezzanine area will be in a box structure. The skylight in the new passageway that connect the main terminal building with the new parking garage will be on the center line of the station train room.
I have done drawings of the station using the 22 coffer design. The existing skylight is in is at the center of a transept similar to the transept in Metro Center.
by Sand Box John on Aug 27, 2009 11:49 pm • link • report
The archictecture of the project seems to me to be of they type that renderings can't really justify, so we will have to see what it looks like in the end. Hopefully they don't go as cheapo on the structural concrete design as they have been on the HOT Lanes project, where Fluor has used the most basic forms possible for the cast-in-place elements.
I meant Grand airport in terms of the Main Terminal ONLY...and nothing else! (except maybe the National A&S Museum extension, which I like better than the original one on the Mall)
by xtr657 on Aug 28, 2009 8:19 am • link • report
by ah on Aug 28, 2009 9:02 am • link • report
Several stations do this - Eastern Market, Federal Center SW, etc.
The trick with Dulles is that the mezzanine will also be outside of the paid fare zone to allow for passage through to the parking garage - but still, you could have faregates on the other side of the walkway and a set of stairs going down to the platform there, too.
by Alex B. on Aug 28, 2009 9:37 am • link • report
by ah on Aug 28, 2009 9:39 am • link • report
There isn't enough room to put faregates and escalators from the mezzanine to the platform in the west end of the station. The distance from the west side of the passageway bridge to the end wall of the station is roughly 110'. The reason why center of the platform in the station 126' 4" east of the center line of the passageway is because of the curve in the tunnels west of the station. The mezzanine is also 5' higher above the platform compared to mezzanines in other station.
by Sand Box John on Aug 28, 2009 11:19 am • link • report
http://www.clouse.org/metro.html#Dulles%20Airport%20Rail%20Tunnel.
by ah on Sep 1, 2009 3:17 pm • link • report
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