DC Streetcar Facility Wins Engineering News-Record’s Award of Merit

The District Department of Transportation has announce that the DC Streetcar Car Barn Training Center, located at 2550 Benning Road NE, Washington DC, has won a 2018 Award of Merit from Engineering News-Record.

The streetcar facility was honored Wednesday, November 7 at the ENR Regional Best Practices Awards in Baltimore, MD.

This is the second award this year for the CBTC. In April, the CBTC was honored with the Urban Land Institute Washington’s Excellence in Institutional Development Award.

“The DC Streetcar and CBTC represent major investments by Mayor Muriel Bowser and reflect our commitment to deliver a design that integrates a contemporary civic structure while honoring the neighborhood’s historic look and feel,” said DDOT Director Jeff Marootian. “Throughout the process DDOT committed to transparency, sensitivity to residents’ concerns, and above all being a good neighbor.”

DDOT’s Car Barn Training Center is a 30,000+ square foot maintenance facility for DC Streetcar, incorporating award-winning sustainability and historic compatibility features.

The facility is a demonstration project for SustainableDC and is on track to receive LEED Gold status this year. The CBTC includes the streetcar control center, administrative offices and supporting uses, three maintenance bays, a wash track, and classroom space.

The CBTC represents a return to the District’s car barns of the early twentieth century and to the idea that transportation facilities should exemplify design excellence and play a role in defining and enhancing the public realm.

Key project facts:

• 30,015 sq ft facility on 118,620 sq ft site
• Windows into the maintenance shop invite the public at street level to see the streetcars being service inside.
• Contains three tracks and can store up to 15 vehicles.
• Contains innovative sustainability features that combine to help the building use 62% less energy than similar buildings.
• Features two types of solar panels, expansive windows and skylights, grass streetcar tracks, and a comprehensive rainwater management system that treats wastewater and rainwater on-site and recycles it for other uses.