The Capital Metro Leander Park and Ride facility is a commuter and bus transfer station in Leander,Texas. The facility features on-site parking, a bus lane, covered drop-off and waiting areas, a clock tower and small park. The project won the 2007 Citation of Honor Award from the Austin, Texas, chapter of the American Institute of Architects.
Requirements for the facility included safely coordinating bus and foot traffic flow, as well as making the riders feel that riding the bus is a choice transportation method. Solutions included foot traffic channels that funnel through the parking lot and across bus lanes. Illuminated identity signs were placed along the east side of the saw-toothed bus lane, making it easy for riders to find their way from their parked cars. Each bus bay was formed by large cast-in-place architectural concrete piers that hold aloft painted steel arms supporting cantilevered tensile membrane canopies. A terminal building holds an office and restroom for staff and provides ticket vending. A series of smaller concrete piers underpinning a circular canopy intersects the terminal building and inscribes a circular plaza, creating a natural gathering place for waiting passengers.
Southwest Steel Services, Austin, supplied the structural steel for the terminal building; Cima Construction Inc., Kingsbury, Texas, supplied the steel roof framing and deck; Span Systems Inc., Manchester, N.H., supplied the steel for the bus canopies and tensile membrane structures; Skyline Sheet metal and Roofing Inc., Austin, supplied the sheet-metal flashings and trim; EFCO Corp., Monett, Mo., manufactured the approximately 1,300-square-foot (121-m2) aluminum curtainwall; Dietrich Metal Framing, Pittsburgh, provided approximately 2,450 square feet (228 m2) of cold-formed steel framing; and Alamo Door Systems, San Antonio, supplied the overhead coiling door manufactured by Cornell Iron Works Inc., Mountaintop, Pa.
McKinney Architects, Austin, was the architect on the project and Solis Constructors Inc., Austin, was the general contractor.
Alamo Door Systems
Cima Construction Inc., (830) 379-4579
Cornell Iron Works Inc.
Dietrich Metal Framing
EFCO Corp.
Skyline Sheetmetal and Roofing Inc., (512) 989-7351
Southwest Steel Services, (512) 233-6600
Span Systems Inc.
