The Bus Stops Here
By Ken Walton


C.K. Steele Plaza
Taltran Bus Transfer
Facility, Tallahassee
Architect: Jim Roberson &
Associates Architects, Inc.,
Tallahassee
Civil Engineer: Barr Dunlop
& Associates,'Inc.,
Tallahassee
Mechanical/Electrical: Hines
Hartman & Associates, Inc.,
Tallahassee
Structural: Charles Mitchell,
Miami


Tallahassee's new Taltran Bus
 Transfer Facility is no ordi-
nary bus terminal. Officially
named the C.K. Steele Plaza in
honor of a prominent black lead-
er, the terminal occupies an
entire city block in downtown
Tallahassee. Barely out of the
shadow oft he State's monolithic
Capitol. the terminal needed
to make a statement about the
city's progressiveness and its
commitment to mass transit.
 When the terminal project be-
gan, it presented a number of
challenges to the 11-year-old ar-
chitectural firm. First, the site
is across the st reet from a church
and a day-care center, both of
which objected to the idea of a
noisy, dirty bus station as a
neighbor. In addition, the city's
transit system required that the
facility be designed to accom-
modate t went 40- foot buses
simultaneously on a relatively
small site and to preserve sev-
eral large oak trees. The Talla-
hassee Police Department was
concerned about security and
was invited to review the design
with the architects.
 Three design concepts were
developed and presented to the
community for input through
public hearings.
 The result was a modern facil-
ity in an urban sett ing with park
benches and extensive land-


 Security as a design determi-
nant was addressed by providing
good lighting, an active security
system and an opportunity for
police patrols to see through the
plaza from their cars.
 No matter which side the build-
ing is viewed from. t his is no ordi-
nary bus station.

Ken Walton is a public rtelionms
co'nlltflrn in,. Tall/thssee.


scaping. Noise abatement mea-
sures consisted of scooping out
the sloping site and leveling it
for bus movement, thereby cre-
ating a 16-foot retaining wall
and a landscaped berm on the
side facing the church and day-
care center. The large berm and
wall reflect t he noise back to the
source.
 The high retaining wall pro-
 vided an additional opportunity
 to improve the site's appeal from
 both the street and the plaza. A
 fountain was placed on the street
 adjacent to a residential neigh-
 borhood and water falls sixteen
 feet into a pool on the plaza side.
 These enhancements provide ad-
 ditional aesthetics for the neigh-
 bors and the waterfall softens
 the noise within the plaza.
 The $2.4 million facility was
 designed to accommodate twenty
 buses and -100 passengers in two
 triangular pavilions. Each pavil-
 ion is extensively landscaped
 and has a 2.)000-square-foot sky-
 light for natural light. A com-
 puterized signage system with
 voice synthesizer keeps passen-
gers advised of routes, sched-
ules, boarding positions and
arrival and departure times.
Additionally, plaza facilities in-
clude information, ticketing,
restrooms and concessions, ad-
ministrative offices, drivers
lounge and maintenance areas.


FLURIDA ARCHITECT Seplember!Oclober 1985