Millenium line stations
Morning!
Today's article will be different than all
the previous articles. The plan is for it to be slightly researched and about
something that is current. So here goes.
There will be excepts taken from skytrain's
website for each station. They
have VR zooms of the stations it's funny. I have also taken images from their
site which are pictures of the mock-ups of the stations. I have my own pictures
too but they were taken from a moving car so they don't have the perfect angles
that the skytrain pictures do.
Here is a pre-review of the new skytrain
stations!
Yes, the whole millennium line will be
mocked for your reading pleasure. Not that I don't like it. I think the new
skytrain is great. I think the new bus routes are great. The only problem I
find with the whole take-skytrain-between-buses-everywhere thing was brought up
by my neighbour, who reminded me you can't take your bike on the skytrain. So
anyone who bikes one way and buses back is stuck. They have bike lockers so
you're ok if you always bike part of the way each way, but if your route is not
symmetrical (day/night) then you won't be happy. They may come out with
skytrains that you can have bikes on.
Now we will start at the beginning.
Sapperton
I have been through sapperton on the
skytrain, as it opened with braid awhile ago. Harldy anyone gets off or on at
sapperton.
Skytrain says: The walkway will allow easy
access to the Labatt Brewery and Royal Columbian Hospital, and will eliminate
the need to climb the steepest part of the Keary Street hill.
In other words, you'll find a bunch of
drunk disabled people here. This station is more useful than it looks because
it is near a hospital. It reminds me of an airport.
Braid
I enjoy braid. This is mainly because I
stop there every day. They have this nice patch of dead grass, which, when it
was alive, was very pretty. Unfortunately being under the skytrain tracks
prevented it from getting rain and now it's ugly.
Skytrain says: The station's extensive use
of glass - including a large skylight in the platform canopy - will create a
bright and airy environment, presenting passengers with breathtaking views of
the Coast Mountains and the Fraser Valley.
After I read this I looked and they were
right, but you do have to be looking for it. If you go to the end of the
Vancouver platform you can look down and see some old cabooses covered with
tarps. They have a little parking lot that has been blocked off since it opened.
Lougheed town centre
This one annoys me. Lougheed is not a town.
It is a highway. I don't even think it's in the centre of the highway. They've
also renamed lougheed mall. I saw an ad on a bus for 'lougheed town centre'. Oh
well. This station is big. I have heard many people say that it is too big –
they don't realize that it is big because if they ever bring the skytrain out
to port moody/coquitlam, it will branch off this station. They've planned ahead
so they don't end up with crap like at the other end of the millennium line.
Skytrain says: The station will feature
five tall columns, reminiscent of the ancient rainforest that once stood in the
area.
This station reminds me of a pirate ship. I
am not the only one to think of a pirate ship. I don't see a rainforest at all,
but there are some pretty pictures on this weird wire-thing inside the station.
Production Way
Also known as SFU station. This is where
you get off to take the shuttle to SFU. The bottom part isn't finished yet (see
picture below)
Skytrain says: The station's roof will
feature an expressive sweeping wing design that reflects the modernist
architecture of Simon Fraser University, which will be visible through an
opening to the north.
They are right, it does look like an
airplane wing. A metal airplane wing. I have seen nothing on the sfu campus
that looks like a metal airplane wing, nor have I ever heard anything positive
on sfu's architecture. But it is a very nice airplane wing.
Lake City Way
Ok, they've barely started building this
one.
Skytrain says: The station will be designed
by Architectura and Walter Francl Architects, with construction starting in
2002.
Yeah. Not that it matters, there's nothing
there anyways. Here's what they have so far:
Sperling
Dairyworld station. Lots of happy
employees.
Skytrain says: Currently undeveloped with a
residential area to the north, the Sperling Station area has potential to
become an urban village with a mixture of commercial, retail, office and
high-tech uses.
In other words, if you build a skytrain
station, they will come. But right now the only reason to stop at this station
is to look at the art: 'Images of mountains, water and sky in glass will
enhance the station. The west end of the station will feature a curved window
wall made of colorful mouth-blown beveled and textured glass to brighten the
station's interior.'
Holdom
I don't have much to say about holdom.
Naming them after streets is getting boring.
Skytrain says: The station's entrance will
provide unimpeded access for pedestrians crossing Lougheed Highway and for
those disembarking from buses.
I'm not sure what the passengers who aren't
crossing the highway or disembarking from buses are supposed to do. This
station has weird funky angles glass things hanging in skylights. You can see
them in my picture.
Brentwood
Brentwood station is near brentwood mall. I
like stations near malls. They're so… useful.
Skytrain says: Brentwood Town Centre
Station will be an elevated, side-platform station with a platform canopy made
of western Canadian steel and laminated wood.
It looks like a spaceship. It also has this walkway ramp that
is so long I couldn't fit it in one picture.
Gilmore
This stating has the ability to change!
That's cool.
Skytrain says: Special B.C.-made composite
wood and steel materials will be used in building the station.
That sounds like they have made a material
that is both wood and steel – does it melt or burn? This one isn't finished at
the bottom, but that's ok because it 'will serve several mixed-use developments
planned for the area'.
Rupert
This station is evil for me because of its
proximity to the nasty tooth guy, but other than that I don't have a problem
with it. It has stuff around it at least
Skytrain says: The station will be a
welcoming beacon in one of Vancouver's evolving industrial areas, open and
transparent by day, brightly lit at night.
I'm assuming it will be open and
transparent by night as well.
Renfrew
This one has a wood-frame roof, which is
cool. Wood is nice.
Skytrain says: Station platforms will be
offset in an abstract reference to historic railway architecture and to the
dynamics of inbound and outbound train movements while providing a spacious
entry courtyard.
That is pure marketing gibberish. I can
barely read it. It's horrible.
Commercial
I don't like this. They have a station at
commercial already, but they have to add onother right beside it. And you have
to walk to get from one train to another. At the other end it all goes into the
existing Columbia, it is just weird to have these two stacked stations.
Skytrain says: The station's curved roof,
timber beams and the tree forms of the station's column/beam connections will
create soft, organic images to complement the surrounding community and the
Cut.
I don't know what the Cut is. but look at
where this station is… this picture was taken from ground level, through a fence.
Well, it didn't go through the fence very well. Note how the station is very
very low and in a hole.
Well, that's it! This is also my last official article, as I stated at the beginning that they were only until school came back.
