Angle Lake Transit Station and Plaza
A new form of social infrastructure takes shape in Seattle
Project Facts
| Location | Seattle, Washington |
| Owner | Sound Transit |
| Size | 400,000 SF |
| Cost | $30 million |
| Status | Completed 2016 |
Overview
The seven acre, 400,000 SF mixed-use complex bridges the gap between diverse economic groups and fosters a sense of community with ample space for people to live, work, and play. The station is a new form of social infrastructure serving essential, intermodal forms of public transportation but also creating important public spaces. The result is a sustainable mixed-use facility that consists of a connecting plaza, community event spaces, light rail drop off area, and dedicated bike and parking spaces.
Services
About the Project
When Seattle’s Sea-Tac Airport extended an important transit line 1.6 miles to a new $30 million parking structure and public plaza, the visibility of the site spurred them to seek a dynamic and memorable façade for the five-level rectangular structure. As enclosure engineer and design partner, we helped realize the vision of an undulating screen façade developed as a complex formed ruled surface. Our team was challenged to bring this powerful concept to reality despite downward budget pressures on the publicly-funded design-build project. Notwithstanding the geometric complexity of the architect’s design ambition, we developed an economical and easy-to-build structural support system.
To advance the support concepts simultaneously and integrally with the design vision, Walter P Moore’s enclosure specialists created a connected, high fidelity 3D model which allowed them to interactively analyze, design, optioneer, and detail the façade as the architect refined his design. Walter P Moore’s deep knowledge of material behavior and practical assembly details were crucial to guide the process toward success.
Walter P Moore created the sinuous façade surfaces in a non-intuitive way, selecting straight line segments and arranging them precisely to create the curving surfaces. Extruded steel planks of a single standard fabricated length were used for the straight segments, further economizing the façade structure. To erect the facade, each plank was hung from minimal support rings at varying elevations and laterally braced back to the parking structure. Walter P Moore’s services were extended beyond design to provide detailed fabrication and erection guidance for the contractor, further reducing costs and construction time.
Although this screen wall was a very small part of the overall project construction cost, its under-budget and ahead-of-schedule completion helped the entire project succeed, and the dynamic façade has become a memorable and treasured visual anchor for the Angle Lake Station.
