Client: Purple Line

Overview

“Branching Out,” for New Carrollton Station, is inspired by Maryland's natural beauty and wooded parklands that are in stark contrast to the minimalist, steel, glass and concrete metro stations. This work celebrates tree canopies by creating a display in the station glass adding color, texture, and context to the station architecture, recalling the nearby urban forest, honoring it and creating a sense of place, within a vast expanse of concrete circulation and station parking.

Goals

Our goal is to humanize the station within its surroundings, by adding color, human scale and local context, providing a connection to nature and a sense of ease for transit patrons, waiting for the trains or exiting for their destinations. Also, the two sides of the station, are marked in different colors to reference the seasons, Autumn and Spring, while promoting wayfinding and direction. The imagery is digitally processed to abstract the forms, creating an array of brightly colored circles, rings and dots that group to create a rich palette of color and imagery. The paving pattern carries a theme of autumn leaves, interrupting the gray concrete flatwork with colorful pavers. These are patterned to suggest a weave of cloth, or carpet, accented by large leaves at key locations along the platform. Our goal is to promote a sense of wellbeing and safety, by transforming the platform and station with imagery that is both evocative, soothing, and grounding, promoting a sense of place.

Process

We are collaborating closely with the Purple Line Transit Partners and their sub-consultants, merging our work into the New Carrollton Station Contract Documents with the Design Team. Also, we are participating in community outreach to assure that our work reflects the identity and goals of the local community. The New Carrollton Station, is one of twenty-one new stations, along a 16-mile stretch, proposed to stimulate economic development and greater connectivity and ease of travel within this very populated metropolitan area. We are pleased to work closely with the design team and client, to realize these goals. The Purple Line is owned by the state of Maryland, developed through a public-private partnership. It is one of two transit systems developed this way. The other is Denver's light rail system. We are pleased to be part of this cutting-edge transit project.

Additional Information

We are very pleased to be working in glass, with digital imagery that can be scaled-up, without losing definition, allowing us to create compelling environmental graphics that are cost-effective, beautiful and timeless.