Tacoma Commuter Rail Station

In close proximity with the Thea Foss waterway, Freighthouse Square was once Tacoma's gateway in the transfer of freight from "Rails to Sails". The building is now home to shops and a bustling food court.

Sound Transit rejuvenated the train platform and removed a piece of Freighthouse Square that was replaced with a new entrance concourse. The concourse connects the train platform to the 25th Street transportation plaza. The commuter rail station is the centerpiece of this regional intermodal hub, seamlessly connecting with the Tacoma Light Rail system, Pierce Transit and Sound Transit buses, and park-and-ride garages. David Clinkston was highly visible in the community outreach effort, gaining stakeholder support for the design.

Light monitors in the entrance concourse and the heavy timber columns that support them mark crossing circulation paths in the building. As such, the columns and monitors are a metaphor of street trees on an intersection.

Steel columns supporting canopies on the train platform are intentionally over-scaled in homage to the workers who moved heavy freight in the train yard.