As you might have already heard, we are currently working on a video where the lead architect of the new vivastations talks about the design of the shelters for the rapidways we will be building over the next few years.
Since that video is not yet completed and there’s growing interest in how the vivastations will keep people protected from the weather, I wanted to take some time to talk about a few features of the new stations. In a way, here’s a trailer of the video…
There will be three different sections (modules) in each station. The middle section will be completely enclosed and heated, blocking the wind, rain, snow and cold temperatures.
Extensive consultation with the public told us that comfort and keeping warm are very important to riders, which is reflected in the design for the new service.
The stations will be large enough to provide adequate personal space and there’ll be an overhang reaching above the vehicles to protect people boarding and alighting on rainy days.
The stations are also more environmentally friendly. Energy efficient LED lights will brighten the station at night. The enclosed section will have automatic accessible doors at each end of the enclosure. They will still have sensors to open automatically, but as you can see in the picture, the hinged doors are on the side of the enclosed section. This will keep heat from escaping when someone triggers the sensor by walking along the platform. Accessibility has also been top of mind during the design process, ensuring that the platform and station design are accessible for individuals with disabilities.
Each platform will be 55 metres long with a 27-metre glass and steel canopy structure in the middle. This will make the stations easy to find and the curved canopy will blend well into the natural streetscape.
Last week, we had a full day of production, shooting interviews and b-roll for the video. Watch for the finished product on our website in the coming weeks.
5 replies on “Gimme Shelter”
Were your shelters used in any of the stations going south of Toronto, like towards Oakville? I’d like to check them out as I’m really close to the Oakville Go Train station.
Dale A:
Vivastations are being built along Viva dedicated bus lanes [rapidways] north of Toronto in York Region – here’s a map of our rapid transit plan. As of the end of 2014, vivastations are in service along Highway 7 East in Richmond Hill and Markham. If you can’t make it to York Region to visit a vivastation in person, you may be interested in watching our video showing a detailed view of a fully-built vivastation.
Maybe use solar panels for energy to cut down on costs? We might as well use the free energy from the sun if we can.
Shawn.
DaleA: Adding solar panels to stations has been something that we have been discussing and we hope that new technology with the panels in the future will allow us to add some that form to the top of the canopy.
again judging by the pictures it still appears these shelters are focused on ascetics rather than practicality/function. If wind was blowing from north to south its CLEAR no glass has been planned to be installed at either end of the station. There will be no shelter from the wind when blowing north or south, unless inside the headed area. Just by a quick look at the picture a NON architect found a flaw, is someone from cali designing our buss shelters, PASS THIS POST ON!, These Shelters are a HUGE investment they should be thought out and tweaked before its too late. I do not want to be stuck with another failed design (Richmond hill Center)
DaleA: Thanks for your comment David. We understand that Canadian winters are cold and the wind blows fiercely making it feel even colder. That is why we have been designing the station from the very beginning with the rider in mind.
When looking at these images, you must remember that we are publishing design renderings of the ongoing process, none of these images are final. The image that is posted on the ‘Gimme Shelter’ blog shows the one side with glass on the side. Due to the size and complexity of the station, it is difficult to show every detail in a single rendering. However, choosing to release these renderings has been rather instrumental in gaining valuable feedback from the community.
The canopy is being designed to have glass panels on either end. It has undergone an exhaustive Microclimate Assessment for wind, rain and snow in all directions by environmental consulting firm, RWDI out of Guelph, Ontario. While you may still feel some wind outside the enclosed area, we have designed the station with a totally enclosed section that will have motion-activated radiant heaters inside to keep you completely protected from the elements when you are inside.
We believe aesthetics does not rule out functionality. In the coming weeks we will be releasing images and material that better shows the specifics of the station in our canopy feature sheet.
Great internet site. i will definitely visit again.
These look very nice. The original Viva shelters had very unfortunate holes that let in wind, snow, and rain. These seem to have fixed that problem, and look much better overall.