Transbay Transit Center Green Roof

San Francisco is already known for its green roofs on bus shelters and the California Academy of Science, now the newly designed Transbay Transit Center will have an enormous green roof as well.

According to World Architecture News,

"The glass-and- steel complex, which will serve 12 transit systems... includes new features as well.
One of those features is a 5.4-acre rooftop park with a 100-seat outdoor amphitheater ... cafes and restaurants. The park will have 20 sub-environments including an amphitheater, a playground, public artworks and a lily pond.... A 1,000-foot long fountain shaped like a bus will automatically be activated when a bus passes underneath the park."
The design was approved on 29 April 2010 by the Transbay Joint Powers Authority Board (TJPA).

According to California Construction, construction will begin in August of 2010 with an estimated cost of "$1.589 billion budget for the first phase of the project, updated to include the cost of building the below ground train box."

Also noted from the article are the addition sustainability features of the project.

"Some of its sustainable features include a geothermal system to assist in substantially reducing energy consumption and a greywater recycling system that will be manage and re-use waste water in the facility. The Transit Center will be entirely naturally ventilated, and, to a large extent, naturally lit."

As San Francisco continues to burnish its green credentials, the new Transbay Transit Center will certainly be a worthy replacement for the current iconic structure. Curiously, it reminds me of the Crossrail Canary Wharf Station. I guess there are only so many ways to build a train station with a green roof.