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Int. Architecture
GEORGIA MULTI-MODAL PASSENGER TERMINAL - Atlanta, Georgia USA, 2015
Architects: FXFOWLE Architects
Associate Architects: Cooper Carry
Client: Georgia Department of Transportation
Project Description
Ever since Atlanta was founded at the intersection of two railroads, its growth has been tied to transportation. Today, although there are over 80 local and regional bus routes and 4 subway lines, there is no downtown hub or efficient transfer point. Passengers are forced to wait, exposed, on desolate sidewalks, or trudge through the city’s infamous heat and humidity to make connections. Regional rail hasn't served the downtown since the 60’s. Atlanta faces extensive sprawl and some of the worst commute times in the country.
With the decline in both passenger rail and freight rail, a vast area of Atlanta’s downtown - the very site of the original railroad junction - is today an open pit of parking lots crossed over by a few elevated roadways. Known locally as “The Gulch”, this physical and psychological barrier isolates otherwise adjacent neighborhoods, hindering growth and potential synergy between economic sectors of the city.
The Georgia Multi-Modal Passenger Terminal Master Plan weaves together three essential city-building threads - transit infrastructure, the public realm, and private development - to create a deeply integrated nexus of urban connections and a catalyst for growth. The project leverages existing assets and incorporates the existing bus and subway networks with planned commuter rail, high-speed rail, and streetcar systems. By knitting together disconnected transit systems, cut-off neighborhoods, and disjointed road and open space networks, the plan creates new development opportunities and a vibrant, mixed-use, pedestrian-friendly district.
The main functions of the plan are stacked vertically: trains at the lowest level; streets, plazas, and retail above this; buses raised above the street level; and a rooftop park over the buses. Four integrated private development towers rise above the park to form an extension of downtown’s skyline. The innovative elevated park, accessible by gently sloping ramps, uses the scale inherent to transit infrastructure to connect existing city open spaces, while creating a dramatic new destination for the city. The station complex’s civic scale compliments the large-scale buildings to the northwest – the Georgia Dome, Philips Arena, Georgia World Congress Center, and the CNN headquarters – while creating a bridge between these and the commercial and academic centers to the north, east, and south. The transportation complex sponsors additional development sites on surrounding blocks for new hotel, office, and residential buildings, as well as open spaces. The master plan integrates further growth and urban infill throughout the 119-acre study area.
As the center of a neighborhood the transit complex is porous and connective. Its many entrances lead to a light-filled, public “great room”. This main hall transitions to a double-height sky-lit pedestrian spine that connects the Five Points subway station to Phillips Arena, providing clear, legible circulation between existing destinations. The network of pedestrian routes through the station mimics the traditional scale of the walkable street grid in the neighborhoods to the north. The street-facing retail energizes a lively district of active pedestrian-friendly sidewalks around the station, and public plazas are integrated around the exterior. Above the retail, an undulating, diaphanous skin surrounds the bus level, providing dynamic glimpses of bus movement, while allowing natural ventilation for the bus platform area. The swooping, slatted form unifies the complex, creating an identity that celebrates the energy and excitement of travel. Its shape and transparency adapt to different urban and programmatic conditions around the complex, celebrating entrances, sponsoring pedestrian ramps, or creating shaded outdoor areas.
This project connects diverse uses, neighborhoods, and transportation networks, drawing on an extensive regional base of workers, commuters, and customers. This symbiotic mix of uses underwrites the plan’s long term viability, assuring that public spaces remain active and animated around the clock, and development remains viable across economic cycles. The plan recognizes the importance of infrastructure investments to an environmentally and economically sustainable future, moving beyond Transit Oriented Development toward Transit Integrated Development as the model for urban growth.
