Rebecca Maloney
Americas Press Office ,Boston
The design for the comprehensive renovation of the Washington DC Union Station passenger concourse is now underway.
Arup, in collaboration with Amtrak, KGP Design Studio, and Grimshaw, has commenced design on the concourse modernisation project at Union Station in Washington DC. This near-term comprehensive renovation of the station’s intercity and commuter rail concourse will add approximately 20,000ft2 of new passenger space.
The design will focus on the user’s experience and comfort while applying state-of-the-art planning strategies and tools to meet the diverse range of requirements and functions associated with a major transportation hub. Arup is providing structural, mechanical, electrical, and plumbing engineering design services.
The new concourse design upgrades passenger amenities including new restrooms, boarding gates, seating, and a newly expanded ClubAcela. The design also features natural light elements to enliven the space for travellers. The result will be a vastly reconfigured, modernised, and unified concourse that will improve the passenger experience by providing better accessibility, circulation, wayfinding, and multimodal connectivity.
Phased construction is anticipated to start in 2017 and will seek to minimise impacts to all station users.