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news

The Design for Finch West Station is Crystal Clear

By Stephen Michalowicz

20100117finchweststation2.jpg
The proposed design for the platform level of Finch West station.


The TTC’s plans for the stations along the Spadina subway extension are shaping up nicely—so far, we’ve seen York University and Sheppard West’s green designs, Highway 407′s boomerang shape, Steeles West’s retro blueprints, and Vaughan Corporate Centre’s mysterious dome [PDF], and now, finally, on Wednesday, the TTC will meet to discuss and approve its plans for the last station left on the list, Finch West [PDF].
If all goes according to plan, Finch West station, which is being built at Keele Street and Finch Avenue West, will feature all of the amenities that we have come to expect from a modern TTC station, including bicycle racks, a commuter parking lot, a bus terminal, a passenger pick-up and drop-off area, at least one fully accessible entrance, super-high ceilings, and natural lighting. The plans also call for “provisions” for a future connection to the Etobicoke-Finch West LRT.


20100117finchweststation1.jpg
The street-level plan for the station.


The TTC budgeted $109 million for the station, but the new estimated price tag, due to higher than expected construction costs, is $134 million. (The estimated cost for all six stations along the extension has been higher than budgeted.) However, the TTC’s documentation suggests that “as design progresses, additional value engineering studies will be undertaken to optimize station costs.”

20100117finchweststation3.jpg
An exterior view of the proposed design for the station’s secondary entrance and bus terminal.


The station’s increased cost is partially due to its interior artwork, which is being designed by world-renowned Scottish painter Bruce McLean, and based on the station’s strange crystal-like exterior, we can only assume that Daniel Libeskind, the architect behind the ROM Crystal, has a secret, uncredited role as well.
The TTC expects to complete the station by 2015. Until then, the next few years are likely to be loud and hectic for nearby residents, as the TTC bulldozes and builds above ground and employs boring machines underground to dig the Spadina line’s new tunnel.
Thanks to Lawrence Lui for the tip. Renderings courtesy of the TTC.

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Comments

  • http://undefined andomano

    A little less colour please! The vibrant colours in the platform design is too distracting!

  • http://undefined Christopher

    GORGEOUS!!!!

  • http://undefined rek

    Meh.

  • http://undefined PSC-TO

    Libeskind, too funny. You’ll have Will Alsop choking on his latte.

  • http://undefined Svend

    I was hoping they’d use the Finch hydro corridor for a cycling route across the entire city but I see they plan to fill it with a parking lot in this section.

  • http://paul.kishimoto.name Paul Kishimoto

    More flat parking :(
    Rocket Talk question: why not build multilayer parking/commercial space instead of flat lots? I realize capital for construction is short, but wouldn’t that have a substantially better long-term value? Have there been any studies about this?
    Apparently the bike spaces will be covered, if not enclosed. That’s a start, but 74 spaces don’t signal much hope for local cycling.

  • http://undefined james a

    It’s hard to build upwards in a hydro corridor, ’cause of.. y’know, the hydro. :)
    On another note. Looks really cool, nice to see they’re putting so much emphasis on originality at each station. Can anyone figure out what is implied by the red in the rendering of the exterior view?

  • rek

    They can’t bury the hydro for a block or two?
    …
    Why aren’t they buried anyway? Put them in accessible tunnels.

  • http://paul.kishimoto.name Paul Kishimoto

    …because no one would be able to use them to make art? Yeah, I don’t know either.
    James, you got me, but the hydro lines are no barrier to burying a multilevel lot or something even better. I’ve also complained about them making this same mistake at the other new stations, which aren’t in the hydro corridor.

  • http://undefined TokyoTuds

    “will feature all of the amenities that we have come to expect from a modern TTC station”
    The how about bathrooms? There are none marked on the plan PDF. Over $100 million per station and they can’t include public toilets? Seriously, why does the TTC want to avoid giving this service to passengers?

  • http://undefined TokyoTuds

    And are these station platforms designed with retro-fit in mind if the TTC someday installs platform doors for safety?

  • http://paul.kishimoto.name Paul Kishimoto

    Then they’d have to clean them (occasionally), which is apparently hard, and causes wildcat strikes.

  • http://undefined pman

    I hope the designers have assumed that the TTC won’t fund normal cleaning or maintenance, and have selected super-durable materials. For a decent forecast of what all these stations will look like in 40 years, check out the Yorkdale station and ask the TTC what happened to the neon sculpture (installation, whatever, but it was really cool before lack of maintenance shut it down). For that matter, check out the water ingress and broken tiles in pretty much any Toronto subway station. We construct these hopeful fantasies of what the new stations will look like while ignoring the reality of how we’re going to let them decay starting from the moment they’re opened.

  • http://undefined TokyoTuds

    I recall that article Paul, thanks. Maintenance is the second part of installing washrooms, and security is also an issue. But for goodness sake, shopping malls have public washrooms and do alright, and the TTC is a billion dollar operation after all.

  • http://undefined mark.

    Unfortunately, I couldn’t agree more. Coincidentally, just today I was leaving Spadina station via the Walmer Road exit and (like nearly all stations) it was clear that the dirt and scuzz had been collecting for decades.

  • http://undefined dowlingm

    Because bathrooms are for the private sector to provide, as demonstrated by the interest Howard Moscoe took in them the second he stopped being TTC chair.

  • http://undefined dowlingm

    Only a single elevator? Fail. (and it surely will, stranding the people who can’t take the escalator)

  • http://www.torontoist.com David Topping

    You folks’ll like our next Rocket Talk.

  • http://undefined rek

    inb4 the answer (to whatever the question is) is “it’s too expensive”.

  • http://undefined Solex

    Then how about bathrooms?

    Because people should learn to hold it in, or not eat before going out-that would make a difference.

  • http://undefined rek

    Or we could be a good city.

  • http://undefined Darren

    The TTC doesnt have to build anything aboveground. They are not in the design and commercial real estate business, but in the business of moving people.
    They should be EXACTLY like NYC and Montreal; build smalll stations, focus on the underground infrastrucutre and lease out the air rights and let the market conditions set the price….ie not union labour.
    This whole endaveour is a huge waste of money and a bigger waste of prime real estate.

  • http://undefined Darren

    My god!!! 2 city blocks bought by “You and Me Taxpayer” to use as parking lots and busbays!!!!!
    Look at the artist’s design; not a residential or commercial building in sight.
    NYC was the first ever entity to sell air rights when it did so over Grand Central in 1954 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_rights#Railroads_and_air_rights)
    We’re officially at least 56 years behind NYC.

  • http://undefined james a

    I’m just not getting the anger here.
    The TTC don’t own the air rights, hydro do. And they are using that air for 500kV hydro towers, which are rarely buried anywhere since that is an extremely expensive option reserved for situations where space is at a serious premium (i.e. not the ‘burbs). Pretty much the only thing they will allow to be built there is parking, so where’s the problem?

  • http://undefined Darren

    The hyrdro corridor only exists over the parking. There is also the station, the busbay etc.
    Multiply that by the number of stations, many of which will have parking spots, and look at the infltated costs so all those acres of land could be bought. Real estate speculators are making a killing, and councillors and planners are trying to leave legacies for themselves, and development is not being encouraged….all on our dime.
    This goes against the TTC’s own stated agenda under Build Toronto to sell off air rights.
    We should have learnt from the stations along the Allen and the Sheppard line, that the station exterior needs to be part of the street landscape (like King, Queen, Woodbine, Dufferin, etc) to attract development.
    This reminds me of that Simpson episode;
    “Monorail…Monorail”

  • http://undefined Darren

    For the record, these type of large designs for stations are used in England, but not for subways but for busy rail hubs like our Union Station. We’re tripping over ourselves to hire foreign designers to leave bigger legacies in what is supposed to be sleak urban infrastructure that meshes with existing or future development; ie the opposite of these hangerbays.

  • http://undefined dowlingm

    Anybody notice any retail in that layout? I like seeing small retail in subway stations, especially if it stays open later, to provide a more human presence in the station than a glassed in collector.

  • http://undefined TokyoTuds

    Hear, hear … ! A news-agent should be standard in every station.

  • http://undefined Darren

    Newstands are in almost every station.
    Knowing the TTC, this will also have Cinnabon, and other crappy retail.

  • little_potato

    Or Hong Kong, which builds small stations to move people AND commercial/residential properties to defray construction costs. I really don’t understand why we are building grand stations and employing different designers for every stations being built. It’s unnecessary.
    I’d rather they spend the money on things like good signage and station usability.

  • little_potato

    Any station can be retrofitted with glass doors for safety. All stations in Hong Kong were retrofitted, except for a few outdoor ones, which were retrofitted with gates.

  • http://undefined dowlingm

    Some of the older stations were designed without the intent for retail and it’s difficult to retrofit in stuff like water lines. In this case there is no excuse – it should be in the design.
    Personally I would go further and site social services like creches and library branches at subway stations, transforming them from transit stops to community hubs. While Finch is not a good example if there are height limits to the building, I think every subway station should be multi-level where feasible, not a one storey box like the LCBO and Shoppers – the sort of box that is prevalent on most of the existing subway network.

  • http://paul.kishimoto.name Paul Kishimoto

    Turns out it was “no comment”.

  • Darren

    Here is great commentary on how the newer stations are poorly designed and it desribes the extension into Vaughan as being; “The $2.6 billion being spent on extending the Spadina subway line could be almost as wasteful, chiefly because there is no plan for high-density redevelopment at its stations to provide ridership sufficient to justify the extension.”
    http://www.thestar.com/opinion/article/781418–reassess-transit-city-it-has-too-many-flaws