Stillwell Avenue Terminal Train Shed

Photo credit: Kiss + Cathcart, Architects

Land Use & Community

The Stillwell Avenue Terminal is used by thousands of commuters daily, but it is more well known for its weekend use, since Coney Island is a popular beach destination for city dwellers. The project was intended to celebrate Coney Island's past while creating a new identity for its future.

The articulation of the structure relates to the architecture of Coney Island’s amusement areas in an economical and efficient way, mediating between the past—Coney Island itself reflecting a 19th century fantasy of the future—and today's future—specifically through the demonstration of distributed energy generation. Old structures, including the Wonder Wheel, stand across the street from the terminal, their view framed by the train shed structure.

The project was intended to provide passengers with a grand sense of arrival upon reaching the new train shed. It stands as a major civic gesture, promoting the use of renewable energy, giving a new sense of identity to Coney Island, and providing the public with a beautiful and convenient transit facility.

This project allows thousands of visitors to reach Coney Island every day—almost three million per year—without using cars. Thousands more use the station to transfer between trains and buses to reach other destinations. The station is located within an urban environment, and the revitalization of the area is creating infill development in empty urban lots.

Green Strategies

• Property Evaluation
  • Assess property for integration with local community and regional transportation corridors
• Responsible Planning
  • Ensure that development fits within a responsible local and regional planning framework
• Properties with Excessive Impacts
  • Avoid contributing to sprawl
• Support for Appropriate Transportation
  • Design development to have pedestrian emphasis rather than automobile emphasis
  • Provide access to public transportation
• Property Selection Opportunities
  • Select already-developed sites for new development

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Our thanks to the ENERGY STAR program of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and to the U.S. Department of Energy, and to BuildingGreen, Inc. for hosting the submission and judging forms.

For more information about the AIA/COTE Top Ten Green Projects, contact AIA/COTE. For help on how to use this Web site, contact .