Where: Sacramento, USA 

When: 2017-2019 (under construction)

Role: Project and Design Leader (as part of the Center for Public Interest Design, PSU)

Partners: The City of Sacramento; Sacramento Regional Transit (SacRT); Sacramento Housing and Redevelopment Agency (SHRA); Sacramento Metropolitan Arts Commission (SMAC); Loaves and Fishes; Sacramento Area Council Of Governments (SACOG); Twin Rivers residents; Urban Strategies; River District Property Business Improvement Districts; SVA Architects; McCormack Baron Salazar; Smythe Academy 

Awards and Recognitions: TCC Grant (Transformative Climate Communities) - $23 Millions

Graphics: Elaborated by the Author

Photos Credit: the Center for Public Interest Design

The Dos Rios Light Rail Station fits into a larger framework of new urban and transportation development for the City of Sacramento, California. The project aimed to rethink the potential role of transportation hubs in creating inclusive and equitable public spaces as climate investment components of city scale planning interventions. The goal was to design a new transportation gateway to a city rich in history and culture, while addressing local needs (such as homelessness, food desert, pedestrian safety) in the neighborhood, and reconsidering the power of renewable energy and sustainable practices in the State of California. With this goal in mind, the design took the shape of metal foldable columns for hosting farmers markets, safe slopes for ADA accessibility, and a large solar-powered roof able to feed power to the station and give energy back to the grid.

Thanks to this community-centered work, the California Strategic Growth Council awarded the planning project a Transformative Climate Communities Grant of $23 million.