West Village Trolley Rest Stop Design Competition:

Background:

Recently, the owners and representatives of West Village approached the Dallas chapter of the American Institute of Architects (AIA) to coordinate an architectural design competition for trolley rest stops at West Village. A group within the chapter known as the Young Architects Forum (YAF) are the facilitators for this program. YAF is a committee that coordinates and promotes activities for young architects and interns while providing opportunities for networking, professional development and recognition. A ‘Young Architect’ is considered to be a practicing architect who has been licensed for ten years or less. Prior to becoming a licensed architect, a person is typically an intern with the title of 'Associate' if a member of the AIA.

The McKinney Avenue Trolley Authority (MATA) operates a fleet of historic and preserved trolley cars in a 3.5 mile route that connects downtown Dallas with the Uptown neighborhood. The most northern part of the route is West Village, an urban, multi-use shopping and dining district on 1 ½ blocks in Uptown. Currently, there are three trolley stops at West Village consisting of nothing more than a sign on a pole.

The development of rest stops for this area will help to identify the locations of these stops, while providing shelter and convenience for waiting passengers. West Village has identified the need for these improvements, as well as, a desire to use this as a marketing vehicle to increase awareness for MATA and West Village. Additionally, this year MATA is celebrating their 20th anniversary and the announcement of the competition winners will serve as a vehicle to publicize and celebrate this milestone.

Competition Outline

Designers

This competition will be open to all 1) registered architects who have been licensed for ten years or less, 2) architectural interns and 3) architectural students.

Entries can be submitted either by an individual or by a team. There is no limit to the number of entries an individual or team can submit.

Registration for this competition will be required and available through http://www.aiadallas.org/. Due to the challenging economic environment and West Village’s willingness to support the program costs, registration cost is free. It is important that all entrants register by the registration deadline of Friday, September 4th.

Program (Design Criteria)

The architectural program is as follows:

• Foot print to be no greater than 8’–6” wide by 4’-5” long and 8’–5” high.
• Feature the MATA logo on the front of the structure clearly visible to the approaching trolley and potential passengers.
• Visibly incorporate the official West Village logo
• Bench to seat 4-6 people.
• A canopy or element shielding device.
• Two wall map holders, both 8.5” x 11” in size and vertically oriented. One holder will contain a route map and a second will contain a trolley schedule.
• The winning trolley stop will display a plaque with the winning designer’s name
• Designer is free to specify any material(s) they feel suitable for this structure. Because accurate material & labor costs are difficult to identify and quantify before the project has undergone contractural bidding, a project budget will not be established at this time. However, the estimated project cost will be considered in the judging process.
• It is suggested that the design include some type of lighting, seeing that the trolley schedule continues after sun down.
• There are three stops proposed in this competition and it is assumed that all three stops will follow the same design. It will be up to the designer to determine if their design for the three stops are identical or unique. If unique, the designer must provide an explanation.
• Although, the designer is free to approach the design of the project however they see fit, the owners of West Village feel that the winning design should 1) fit into the architectural vocabulary of the existing West Village buildings and 2) be distinctive from other structures in the area for the same use (i.e.: DART bus shelters).
• The three trolley stop locations are as follows.
  A) At the northwest corner of Blackburn Street and West Village’s North Alley. B) At Cityplace West Boulevard. On the island between the trolley tracks and east bound vehicular traffic. C) In front of Starbucks on Cole Avenue.

(a map of West Village along with images of these locations is available by clicking the links on the home page.)

Time Line and Submission Requirements

• Friday, August 14th Registration goes live with blog and images on flickr.com available.
• Friday, Sept. 4 – Registration Deadline.
• Thursday, Sept 10 – Submission deadline. Submission details to follow registration.
• Friday, Sept. 11th – Preliminary judging by YAF competition sub-committee members to select semi-finalists.
• Monday, Sept. 14th – Semi-finalists notification.
• Friday, Sept. 18th – Final Judging at AIA Dallas/Dallas Center for Architecture.
• Monday, Sept. 21st - Announce winners of competition.
• Friday, Oct. 2nd to 4th – Exhibition of semi-finalists and winning designs for public viewing at West Village
• Sunday, Oct. 4th – Award Reception for semi-finalist designers and presentation of winner awards at West Village restaurant. (TBA)

Judges

The final judging panel will be comprised of three owners of West Village, 2-3 registered architects, and the chairman of the board of directors for MATA. Judges will be announced prior to submission deadline

Ownership of design

• Design submission signifies complience with competition rules of design ownership.
• Winner(s) of the design competition are required to release rights of the design to West Village. Non winners reserve the ownership of their design.
• West Village will have the right to take any of the recognized winning designs to contract, in a negotiation outside of this competition, with either the winning designer or another registered architectural entity capable of supplying construction documents and construction administration as required by West Village. West Village in good faith will include the winning designer in the qualification for architectural services.
• In the case that a non-registered architect or a student design is chosen by West Village, West Village and AIA Dallas will assist, but not guarantee, alignment with a registered architect in the qualification for architectural services.

Winners Awards

• Best in show 1st Place Winner - $500 in gift cards from West Village Merchants in $100 increments.
• Best Intern Design, Best License Architect Design, and Best Student Design- $200/ each in gift cards from West Village Merchants in $100 increments.

Information Resources

Registration: http://www.aiadallas.org/
Information Updates and FAQ: http://www.trolleycomp.blogspot.com/
Email for submissions and questions: trolleycomp@gmail.com
West Village Web Site: http://www.westvil.com/
McKinney Avenue Trolley Authority Web Site: http://www.mata.org/