Architekton

February 2010 Feature—No author specified, Parsons

Multimodal Transportation Center Grows Into Mixed-Use Facility

The Tempe Transportation Center (TTC), between Forest and College Avenues, is the showpiece of this award-winning transportation program for the city of Tempe, located just 10 minutes from Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport in the middle of the Phoenix metropolitan area. The project was initially conceived as a multimodal transportation center and evolved into a 43,000-ft², three-story, mixed-use facility.

In June 2006, Tempe selected Parsons to provide project management services for the expanded multimodal transportation center. However, the unexpected discovery of archaeological findings and the remains of just under 200 native Americans, presumably Hohokam, required exhumation from the site and delayed the start of work on the TTC. Currently, more than 300,000 artifacts are being catalogued.

The three-story structure has a shaded exterior courtyard and a transit plaza serving both the new 20-mile METRO light rail system and the local and regional bus patrons:

• * TTC’s ground floor features retail space and a transit store, a security office, and a  bicycle station.
• * The second floor includes Tempe’s Transportation Office and the Don Cassano Community Room.
• * The third floor houses the Transit Operations Center.

As project manager, Parsons was responsible for managing the designer, ensuring the owner’s interests, and coordinating with multiple users. The TTC was a joint design effort by OTAK of Portland, Oregon, and locally based Architekton.

Sustainable Building Features

Tempe actively supports LEED-certified projects. As such, the TTC was designed to use 52% less energy, and it is one of the first buildings of its kind—in the nation—to be submitted for LEED platinum certification to the U.S. Green Building Council. It is currently awaiting LEED platinum confirmation.

Designed to blend into the Tempe landscape, the center was oriented on the site to preserve its featured views of the adjacent Hayden Butte, a historically significant geological formation and site of several ancient Hohokam villages. Because the center considered the arid climate of the Sonoran Desert, it also incorporates many sustainable features:

• * Green roof with desert landscaping
• * 15,000-gallon rainwater recovery system
• * Greywater recovery and recycling system
• * Mechanical/retractable shading devices
• * Solar water heating
• * Underfloor ventilation system
• * Lighting controls
• * Bicycle station with showers
• * No-flush urinals
• * Low-flow plumbing fixtures

To create and support the public’s awareness of the building’s sustainability strategies, the TTC also features a “green screen”/touch screen dashboard detailing the building’s precise—and current—energy consumption, water use, and other environmentally important features.

Award-Winning Project

Tempe’s multimodal transportation center has already earned more than a dozen awards, including:

• * Southwest Contractor selected it to receive a Best of 2009 Arizona Award in the Green Building category. This annual competition recognizes construction and design excellence in the Southwest United States.
• * The Arizona component of the American Institute of Architects selected the TTC to receive its 2009 SRP Sustainable Energy Award, which recognizes the importance of sustainability and renewable energy-efficient sources for buildings through excellence in design, planning, and construction.
• * The facility was highlighted at Greenbuild 2009, where Parsons sponsored several activities relating to our sustainability consciousness and LEED awareness.

This completed, award-winning structure now serves as a prominent educational tool that promotes sustainable concepts in Arizona and throughout the nation.

We Add Value

Based on Parsons’ efforts, the client benefited from the significant value added by our work, which enabled the scope to be increased throughout the project while remaining within the originally proposed budget. With our success—as with other Parsons LEED projects—we again demonstrate how we are leaders in the fields of environmental consciousness and sustainable construction.

Project Details (featured Feb 2010)
Client: City of Tempe
Project Value: $24 million
Project Duration: December 2006 - December 2008
Services Provided: Project management

See full article here: http://www.parsons.com/projects/Pages/tempe-transportation-center.aspx