SEATTLE, WA LMN Architects, a design practice known for creating impactful community-focused projects of all scales, announces the opening of the new University of Washington Station, part of the Sound Transit regional light rail system. Knitting together transportation modalities from bike to bus to pedestrians to trains, the design of the 156,000-square-foot station creates a unified transportation solution and provides a unique gateway to the University of Washington campus through its above-grade and below-grade experiences. Based upon initial reports since its opening last week, ridership has exceeded previous Sound Transit projections for the new line.

The project includes a 380-foot-long train platform 100 feet underground, accessed via escalators and elevators from a two-level glass entrance structure at grade. The entrance structure frames views of the surrounding context, including Lake Washington and the Cascade Mountains. The transparency of the structure also serves as a light well, allowing daylight to reach down to the mezzanine level. Descending to the train platform, users pass through a tall, vertical circulation chamber featuring Subterraneum, an art installation by Leo Saul Berk, an artist who worked in collaboration with LMN to blend architecture and sculpture in expressing the geological layers of soil surrounding the station walls.

"The UW Station and its associated public spaces afforded a terrific opportunity to connect this complex of major campus elements and urban pathways, resulting in a civic-centered approach to rail transit within the campus community," said Mark Reddington, Design Partner with LMN.

The project also includes a new 400-foot-long concrete bicycle and pedestrian bridge that connects to both levels of the entrance structure via stairs, escalators and ramps, curving gently as it spans over Montlake Boulevard to land on the University campus.

"LMN's work at the University of Washington Station beautifully and intricately navigates an almost unbelievably complex urban node," said Rebecca Barnes, University Architect and Associate Vice Provost for Campus and Capital Planning at the University of Washington. "The outcome is a great architectural and urban design achievement borne of many acts of imaginative and insightful civic leadership."

Project Team:

LMN Architects (architect)
Northlink Transit Partners (prime consultant)
KPFF Consulting Engineer (structural/station; civil/grading, utilities, roadway)
AECOM (structural/bridge; civil/site drainage; mechanical/EVS)
Swift Company (landscape architect)
HNTB (station mechanical/electrical/fire protection)
Moniz Art & Architecture (architectural technical facilities coordination)
The Greenbusch Group (acoustical consultant)
Leo Saul Berk (artist)
Light Wire (lighting design)
LTK Engineering Services (systems design)
START (construction management)
Hoffmann Construction Company (contractor)