University of Washington Station
Sound Transit

Location

Seattle, Washington

Owner

Sound Transit

Collaborators +

Project Size

157,856 square feet

Bridge length: 543 feet

Project Status

Completed

Services

Architecture, Planning, Urban Design

The University of Washington (UW) Station creates a unified solution for multiple transportation modalities—bikes, buses, pedestrians, and trains at one of the busiest intersections in Seattle. The Station is embedded within a previously tangled mix of urban uses including the University of Washington Medical Center, Husky Stadium, the historic Olmstead conceived Rainier Vista, the Burke-Gilman bicycle/pedestrian trail, 15 local and regional bus lines, and enormous traffic flow to the nearby freeway. The completed project stitches together the multiple transportation modalities and urban uses into a unified urban place, demonstrating the opportunity to integrate fragmented urban systems through a comprehensive approach.

At the heart of the Station experience, the escalators and glass elevator pass through a 55-foot high underground central chamber, one of the highest interior volumes in the city. The firm and artist Leo Saul Berk collaborated to create an integrated experience for travelers, where the architecture seamlessly merges with Berk’s artwork, Subterraneum, that expresses the geological layers of soil surrounding the Station walls.

More than a light rail station, the project was designed to be a highly flexible civic gathering space, with the entire station area functioning in several different modes. The UW Station merges high quality design and urban integration, underscoring design opportunities often overlooked in this typology. The Station’s daylit spaces, dynamic public art, and ease of access work in concert to provide a beautiful, high-performing portal for the thousands of passengers who experience it every day.