Plans for 14th St. subway take advantage of double-height.

Conceptual plans were recently submitted by Hellmuth, Obata + Kassabaum, New York (HOK/NY) for the upgrade of the New York City Transit (NYCT) station at Seventh Avenue and 14th Street. According to Ken Drucker, HOK/NY Design Director and Project Designer for the assignment, "The double-height spaces at both the 14th Street and 12th Street ends of the platform provide a unique opportunity for increased passenger comfort, way-finding, circulation and safety."

The double-height space, rare at most stations, is affording HOK/NY the potential to create uninterrupted views of the station platforms. These panoramic sightlines are currently blocked by poorly placed and outmoded staircases, storage rooms, concession stands and inadequate lighting. The overall effect will be to create a more open and airy feeling below street level."

HOK's conceptual study recommends two design options, each maximizing the existing advantages the station has to offer. The end result of both options is improved levels of service, passenger amenities, safety and convenience. The first option calls for a reconfiguration of the existing mezzanine that will ultimately clear sightlines to the platform and add space by relocating points of entry and token collection areas to provide more space in the paid passenger waiting areas.

The second option, more ambitious, is an expansion of the current mezzanine at both the north and south entrances (14th Street and 12th Street), taking advantage of the double-height space over the platform. Interestingly, research done by the HOK/NY team shows that the original 1911 plan for the station called for the eventual extension of the mezzanine an additional 45 feet toward the middle of the platform. The existing double-height space will minimize the need for excavation and heavy equipment if this option is undertaken by the NYCT.

For the other areas of the station, the design focus will be to optimize existing architectural elements, restoring and improving them in an effort to enhance passengers' waiting experience. The project will include a general upgrade of the station to NYCT and ADA standards. Specific issues and problems to be addressed include replacement and upgrade of materials like floors and tiles, and the restoration of existing mosaics, as well as the addition of mosaics where none currently exist. During preliminary design, an artist selected by MTA Arts For Transit and HOK/NY will be brought into the team to identify and locate additional original art.

The station will also receive signage upgrades, new displays for system maps, and new stainless steel railings.

Existing staircases, which currently house storage rooms beneath them, will be removed and replaced with semi-open riser stairs to vastly improve sightlines down the entire length of the platform.

Cleaning rooms, electrical rooms, refuse rooms, employee rooms and a communication room will be relocated and improved in terms of capacity and functionality.

In addition, the existing news/concession stand, believed to be one of the highest grossing in the NYCT system, completely blocks passenger sightlines to the platform when entering at 14th Street and interferes with token booth lines at peak hours. It would be relocated and replaced under the HOK/NY plan with a more sculptural and decorative free-standing structure that will continue to function as a news and concession stand, yielding a safer, more functional and visually stimulating point of entry to the station.

The major engineering issues will include water re-mediation, structural repairs and the NYCT's MVI (Minimize Visual Impact) program. The MVI program includes the removal of unsightly conduit throughout the station, upgrading it and moving it out of sight, if the second option is pursued, there will be structural engineering issues to be addressed concerning the extension of the mezzanines.

Originally built in 1917, the lines that serve the station include the #2 and #3 express, the #1/#9 local and the Sixth Avenue F local, via a transfer tunnel. The station has not undergone a major renovation since it was built. It has also experienced a considerable increase in customer traffic and use due to the growing number of residents in the neighborhood. It is estimated that 51,000 passengers pass through the station each day. The only important transformations to take place at the station to date were the addition of two connecting passageways - the first to the 6th Avenue line. the second to the 8th Avenue line (currently closed) - and the platform extensions in the 1960's. These modifications were utilitarian in nature. Few design enhancements and no design adornments of any kind were undertaken until now.

The design of the current renovation is expected to be completed in January of 2000 and construction will be phased and expected to take 2.5 years to complete.