The Chicago Union Station concourse is currently facing major problems with congestion, as well as inadequate additional services that are deemed insufficient. Already operating at or near full capacity during peak hours, the projected growth in the annual ridership of railway transportation will only bring more issues to the station in the coming years. Due to the issues on the concourse, the travelers’ experience in the station is often frustrating and degrades their perception towards the integrity of Union Station and the City of Chicago. The primary objective of this thesis aims to provide design alternatives that will relieve the concourse of its congestion and insufficient services through rehabilitation of its current form to improve the functionality of the space.To understand what caused such issues to arise within the concourse, research and analysis was conducted of the current conditions and history of the station’s facilities. The historical investigation also included research into large railroad stations alike that were created during the same time period of Chicago Union Station, between the years of 1890 and 1930. The analysis showed that much of the concourse issues are attributed to the space being in the basement of an office tower. These results suggest that a redevelopment of the site and its existing structures is necessary towards improving the functionality of the concourse facilities. This proposal will allow the new design to re-establish a connection with the city and enhance the user experience into one of satisfaction and delight.

This project focuses on the renovation of Union Station (VIA Rail) located at 123 Main Street, Winnipeg, Manitoba, into a hotel. The purpose of designing a hotel at Union Station will be to link users to the historical and cultural context that the building sits in. The facility will be a place that addresses the needs of VIA Rail’s travellers while creating a location where locals can visit. It will be an establishment unique from other hotels within the vicinity because of its strong literal ties to the rail industry being that it is attached to a train station, serving the clientele of the train station and that it reflects the inherent historical value of the site for Winnipeg. An investigation into Regulation Theory and place and interaction theories, a precedent analysis on typologies related to the one presented and a detailed programme will influence the design of the proposed hotel. / October 2016

Master of Science / Department of Architectural Engineering and Construction Science / Sutton F. Stephens / Architectural engineers face many challenges in the design and implementation of mechanical, electrical, lighting, plumbing, and fire protection systems in buildings. Space and aesthetic coordination must be managed between the architects, engineers, contractors, and building owners. Further design issues are involved when renovating or preserving historic properties. Historic buildings often contain additional design limitations and character defining features that must be preserved. A building's character defining features often represent past history, culture, and architecture. To better understand the design coordination and other issues faced in historic renovation, three case studies located in Kansas City, Missouri, are presented to investigate the application of mechanical, electrical, and plumbing (MEP) system design into historic buildings. The three case studies include: the Stowers Institute for Medical Research, as a mechanical design; the Union Station, as an electrical and lighting design; and the Webster House, as a plumbing and fire protection design. The renovation projects' architects, engineers, and contractors were personally interviewed to obtain the most accurate information and account of the design and construction process. Additional information was gathered, and a tour of each building allowed for the pictorial documentation of each site. Preserving the historic character of buildings during renovations has many advantages and disadvantages for both the owners and the designers. The additional design parameters in historic renovation projects foster creative thinking and problem solving during the design and construction process. In order to implement a successful design, the architects, engineers, and contractors must work together and understand the value of a building's historic character during the design stage when adapting to a new usage.

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) / Union Station is a unique historic building in downtown Indianapolis, Indiana. The station, which first opened in 1853, has connected the history of the evolution of travel and the city of Indianapolis and, in the late twentieth century, became deeply embedded in local conversations about national issues at the intersection of race, historic preservation, and urban renewal. The station was a place of Black exclusion from public spaces throughout its existence, first as a train station, and later when it was repurposed as a Festival Marketplace. In preparation for the opening of the Festival Marketplace in the 1980s—complete with shops, restaurants, and a hotel—the developers invited people to write to them to preserve personal memories of experiences at the station from the era of train travel. Indiana residents, both white and Black, as well as Indianapolis city officials, and redevelopers of the station showed nostalgia for earlier eras when the station was active. This nostalgia, I argue, played an active and productive role in the process of saving Union Station. Importantly, those who contributed a letter to the “Remember Union Station” project were overwhelmingly white. Out of eighty-six letters, the race of seventy-three of them can be confirmed. Of those eighty-six, only two have been identified as Black. The two Black letter writers used the opportunity to contribute to the “Remember Union Station” campaign as a means to remember and claim the right to belong in Union Station for themselves, their families, and Black communities. As this project shows, the Indianapolis Union Station has always been more than just a building. It is a space that captures a part of the complex history of the city of Indianapolis and can hopefully provide more links to the past, present, and future for Hoosiers and visitors alike.

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The purpose of this study was to evaluate and determine different energy components existing within historic buildings that will contribute to the development of guidelines for applying modern technology systems within these strucutres and to show the financial, social and physical benefits, which may result without altering the architectural and cultural significance of the building.Union Station, Indianapolis, is an example of historical and architectural ingenuity. If proper and selected energy systems are applied, Union Station will be a strong active force for revitalizing the surrounding area, which has deteriorated and fallen into disuse in recent times. Similar examples of significant historic buildings are scattered all across the country, and with the new development taking place, these historic structures, which are the physical and visual links between us and our past, are being thregtened for the sake of the "glass-box". This study shows the many advantages in preserving these historic links whether economically, architecturally or socially, by bringing the best technology of both worlds and molding them into one system, in which both technologies work together and compliment each other rather than be an isolated system. / Department of Architecture