A New Direction in Light Rail Maintenance Facility Design

This paper describes how the new Elati Light Rail Facility is a one-of a kind facility that opened in late 2004 and became fully operational in early 2005. The 125,000 square foot facility is located at the city boundaries of Englewood and Denver in Colorado and services the Regional Transportation District´s expanding light rail fleet. Distinguished by its graceful arcing roofline, the Elati facility provides a human side facing the neighborhood to the east and a rugged resistant industrial facade to the rail yard to the west. The facility meets specific maintenance and 24-hour operations needs while ensuring operations and administrative staff feel connected within one agency. Cohesive symbols of light rail equipment and track are incorporated into materials and finishes throughout the facility. It is a facility designed with workers in mind. It has a lot of natural light for the mechanics and is a wonderful piece of architecture that recognizes that this is a people facility - not just a big barn to maintain the vehicles like so many older maintenance facilities were intended to be.