| The new Downtown Bus Maintenance and Operations Facility provides a state-of-the-art vendor-operated home to the natural gas and electric-fueled regional LADOT DASH bus fleet. With the DASH bus system providing local neighborhood bus service within downtown and within 27 neighborhoods throughout the City, the downtown location of the new $33M complex now lies in the geographic center of its service area reducing operating and maintenance costs, increasing ridership service efficiencies, and allowing increased capacity to meet the escalating demands of the growing bus fleet. Prominently situated between the iconic Union Station, METRO’s Gold Line Little Tokyo Station, and the 101-freeway, the new facility stands as a highly conspicuous, demonstrative display of the City of Los Angeles’ commitment to sustainability and serving its citizens. The distinctive architectural form of the building, textural exterior finish, integration of site barriers, and rich landscape all work together to establish a meaningful iconic presence.
Starting as a storage site used by City departments, the heavily impacted site required a number of interventions and civic collaborations to prove viable, including a lengthy City planning process to vacate an unused street bisecting the site; soil remediation to resolve ‘brown-field’ conditions; and the culturally sensitive handling of Native American burial remains discovered during excavation. Once rehabilitated and unified, the now nearly 6-acre site provides parking, fueling, and maintenance for 70 DASH buses; staff and driver structured parking; 22,000sf administration, operations, and training building; a large solar array for sun-shading and energy production; and landscape enriched green spaces all providing a safe and morale-building home for the Department. The facility is oriented to Commercial Street on the north with large windows looking into the conference room, training room, and maintenance bays just below the Gold Line rail overpass.
A final design opportunity was found while leveraging the restraints of federal transportation funds. The requirement stipulated that the project utilize only building products manufactured in America. The level of quality delivered in materials and systems resulted in establishing a precedent for architectural quality not often seen in municipal facilities. The combination of high-performance material application with investment in extensive sustainable infrastructure, the LEED Platinum Certified facility is fully energy neutral, creating a surplus of energy for the City producing 140% percent of the energy needed to operate. Additional investment in operational staff amenities, including electric vehicle charging, naturally lit high bay workspaces, and carefully designed and placed indoor and outdoor areas of respite clearly make this a model of the City of Los Angeles’ commitment to its employees and pride of service to Angelenos.
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