13
9
Bremerton_Transit_Center_ImprovementsSouth_Tacoma_Commuter_Rail_StationInterurban_Pedestrian_BridgesBeacon_Hill_Light_Rail_StationTacoma_Commuter_Rail_StationTacoma_Light_Rail_SystemKing_Street_Commuter_Rail_StationEdmonds_Ferry_TerminalAnacortes_Ferry_Terminal
7

Beacon Hill Light Rail Station

Seattle, Washington
Owner: Sound Transit

Sound Transit's first deep tunnel station is central to an initial 14-mile segment connecting downtown Seattle with Seattle-Tacoma Airport. Careful brick detailing and building scale relate to neighborhood context. Public art is thoughtfully integrated.

David Clinkston was the lead designer while with Otak

image1image2image 3image4image5image6image7

Beacon Hill Station is central to Sound Transit's initial 14-mile segment of stations that connect downtown Seattle with Seattle-Tacoma International Airport.

The Primary Headhouse contains four high-speed elevators, bicycle storage, ticketing, emergency stairs and ventilation systems. LED lights change color behind glass block walls as elevator cabs arrive, animating the building. Great care was taken to integrate public art components with the station architecture. Kinetic (wind-driven) metal banners, a sculptural louver screen, and paving in-lays by Carl Smool are inspired by 56 traditional textile patterns.

Elevators open 167 feet below street level to a domed concourse that traces the shape of the main vertical shaft. Dan Corson's "Portals" are video views behind solid glass hemispheres into other worlds both large and small, as seen through telescopes and microscopes.

The brightly lit and refined passenger platform mitigates drinking straw proportions and contrasts with deep blue tunnel walls that evoke the evening sky and infinite space. Dan Corson's suspended "Space Forms" are replicas of nudibranchs (deep sea creatures).

Prime Consultant
Otak: Architecture

Artists
Dan Corson, Carl Smool, Bill Pell

Photography
All images by John Walser (Sound Transit Project Manager),
except image 7 by Dan Corson