Today I was task by Professor Lia with the deplorable mission of riding the Staten Island ferry during class to better understand the operations of a ferry terminal first hand. The main thing I took out of this trip was the scale of the ferries compared to the terminals, (as seen in the floor plans below) and the amount of passengers that move through the terminal with ease. Though my terminal will not be using the same sized ferries as the Staten island terminal, it however brought up the idea of designing my spaces based of the size of the ferry, like the terminals I visited.
Some other Ideas that came up during my trip were:
- Having something visual to keep passengers entertained while waiting, like the aquarium in the concourse.
- Having separate means of egress for the passengers coming off the ferry and passengers getting on.
- Having different gates and loading docks/ what types of loading docks (movable/static).
- The size, brand and amount of passengers of the ferries.
- separation of spaces, fire doors, etc (even though its only 1 floor open plan)
- The ability of easily being able to go from one mode of transportation to the next. Having a clear sense of direction
- Ability to "hide" unpleasing programs in an open floor plan. (mech room, garabage/backdoor loading area,etc)
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| Manhattan Terminal Entrance |
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| Floor Plan of Staten Island Terminal |
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| Concourse Of Staten Island Terminal |
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| Roof construction of Staten Island Terminal |
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| Egress hall that connect the Ferry concourse - Trains-Buses-Taxis |
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| Aquariums keep passengers sane while waiting |
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| Docking at Manhattan side Terminal |
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| View Of Staten Island and Terminal |
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| View of lower Manhattan from Ferry |
2 comments:
I am glad that you did this. I had assumed that you had done this already. What did it change about your thought of your massing and design? Could you see your site from the ferry?
While your terminal may not be used for activity to the scale and volume of Staten Island terminal, you may still want to think of future growth with relation to usage and planning. Our cities are only becoming more densely populated as time progresses, so it stands to reason that one day perhaps this terminal may not be adequate for the needs of the community. How could you prepare for this now in the early phases?
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