Designing a unique rail operations facility

GoTriangle Durham Orange Line Rail Operations and Maintenance Facility

When GoTriangle, Durham’s transit authority, needed a rail operations and maintenance facility for their new, 17-mile light rail line, we served as the facility design architect. The design consists of vehicle wash, cleaning and service and inspection bays, a maintenance of way (MOW) storage building that shares a loading dock with the warehouse, and administration offices.

The oblong, steeply sloped site presented a challenge for our design team, who also had to solve issues associated with entering and exiting the yard from the main line, work vehicle circulation around the yard, and vehicle storage. Our team also had to address visibility and noise from the site to the surrounding neighborhoods. Their unique solution? Placing administration on the second level and flipping the building footprint with an elevated pedestrian bridge over the rails for safety, allowed the team to provide solutions while maintaining required setbacks along each property line.

In addition, by combining natural lighting, more efficient operational flows, and a high efficiency energy system, our sustainable design can save the client thousands annually.