A short month removed from its last update on the $10 billion project, Grimshaw Architects has unveiled renderings for the expansion of Union Station in Washington, D.C. that provide a clearer picture of how the revised plan will take shape over the coming two decades.

At the center of the design is the new train concourse defined by a clear-span roof canopy and beset with a series of skylight features lying directly north of the existing Beaux-Arts hall from 1907. Much of that original structure has been left untouched, while transportation upgrades are present in the form of expanded rail platforms, an elevated and greenery-lined new drop-off area, and new entry portals that alleviate crowding from the Columbus Circle side while allowing access to the nearby H Street corridor. 

Grimshaw is working with a consortium that includes Arup, Beyer Blinder Belle, and VHB on the project, whose client is the development corporation formed by the Federal Railroad Administration and Amtrak. Space for a planned private mixed-used development called Burnham Place is included in the images, although the design process for that project (which comes at a cost of $3 billion) is still incomplete. The expansion design will now go in front of the U.S. Fine Arts Commission for further approval. 

"The civic significance and historic context of Washington’s Union Station is a fantastic springboard for the station expansion project," Grimshaw Principal Nikolas Dando-Haenisch said of his team's intentions with what is the country's second-largest rail station. "Our designs will maintain the historic station as a destination in the district but also integrate it into fabric of the surrounding neighborhoods and deliver an improved passenger experience for 21st-century travel."