Sunnyside Yard Amtrak Rail Facility

Looking toward the introduction of next-generation high-speed trains, Amtrak engaged us to re-envision their century-old Sunnyside Yard maintenance complex to meet the challenges of a 21st-century rail system. Seeking to connect the yard, sunk thirty feet below street level, to the city around it, our design transforms the outmoded facility into a safe, well-ordered workplace. Our response is in three parts: a clearly organized master plan creates a cohesive campus identity and resolves highly constrained circulation requirements; a set of sophisticated, sustainable, and flexible design guidelines establish an architectural DNA for future yard buildings; and a detailed design for the yard's essential "focus building", which creates a front door to the campus on Sunnyside's 39th Street bridge. A set of elevated walkways further connects the campus to the surrounding neighborhood with two street level employee entrances, while a 22-acre, green-roofed maintenance shed engages passersby with views of rail operations below. Carefully engaged with its surroundings, the new facility will be a model for the future of sustainable urban infrastructure.