Deep Ellum Gateway Competition

Deep Ellum Gateway Competition
Dallas Area Rapid Transit’s Art and Design Program announces a design
competition for The Deep Ellum Gateway Project as part of the extension of
DART’s Southeast Corridor light rail line.
Deep Ellum Gateway Project Artistic Value Statement:
Born of the railroads that created Deep Ellum, the remnant brick structures of today
form a physical environment that has, in the past, been home to a diverse multi-cultural
populace, a thriving blues and jazz music scene, meat markets, restaurants, bars,
vaudeville theatres, pawn shops, sheet metal and auto repair shops. In more recent
times, Deep Ellum finally gave way to commercial realities which resulted in a
confluence of trendy shops, lofts, restaurants, nightclubs, music venues, art galleries,
tattoo parlors, graffiti and murals by local artists. Thus, one can view Deep Ellum as a
palimpsest; a layering of stories and histories; a place that has been written on more
than once, with the earlier writing incompletely erased and often legible. Within the last
two decades, the vibrant street-life of Deep Ellum’s urban neighborhood has, perhaps,
created the most recent manifestation of the palimpsest that is Deep Ellum.
With DART light rail replacing the existing Good-Latimer Tunnel with an at-grade
passenger station, the Deep Ellum Gateway project has the possibility, in the absence
of the tunnel, of defining a next step in the physical, creative “atmosphere” of the district.
With this next step, it is the aspiration of The Deep Ellum Gateway Project, to create a
visual and physical link between the station and the core of Deep Ellum.
Acknowledging that there is a short walk from the Deep Ellum Station to Main, Elm and
Commerce, the primary streets of the neighborhood, a series of strategically sited iconic
art elements has the ability to magnetically draw transit users from the light rail station
toward the multiple venues of Deep Ellum and back again. For residents of the
neighborhood, the opportunity exists to enhance the street-life of their neighborhood
and create the next step in the artistic identity that is Deep Ellum.
The successful competition entry should possess the ability to be visually strong,
physically accessible, contextual in the sense of architectural scale and sensitive in
terms of human scale and interaction, constructible and maintainable. The possibilities
are limited only to the imaginations of the design teams that respond to this opportunity,
and the ability to match that sense of imagination with the realities of the existing budget
and future maintenance. Entrants may propose on any or all sites including strategies
for linking the sites with other artistic enhancement. If awarded to multiple teams,
coordination of theme and materials will occur between the winners. The winning
entrant or entrants will contract with DART to design, fabricate and construct their
proposal(s).
Deep Ellum Gateway Competition Brief
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Budget:
$1.5 Million
 Includes all design and engineering fees, construction costs, insurance, travel,
installation, supervision/construction administration fees, applicable taxes,
permits and all other costs associated with the project.
 The selection committee will divide the budget among the sites as deemed
appropriate.
Selection Process:
 A national call will solicit entries from interested artists, or
artist/architect/landscape architect teams.
 A committee of 5 members will be formed to judge the competition. The
committee will be made up of artists, architects, and community representatives.
 From the submitted competition entries, the Selection Committee will review the
proposals and select up to six artist or artist/architect/landscape architect finalists
to interview.
 The Selection Committee will then interview the finalists with specific attention
paid to design and appropriateness of the proposal, finalist’s previous work;
understanding of scale and materials as related to this project, budget and
construction feasibility and determine a first place competition winner.
 As a result of the competition Selection Committee process, DART will negotiate
and award a contract in three phases, each with its own review process: a design
development and cost estimating phase, a construction document phase and a
construction, fabrication, installation and oversight phase.
Selection Criteria:
 The artistic merit, conceptual approach and constructability as demonstrated in
the competition entry.
 The desire to select competition entrants that are complimentary and appropriate
to the neighborhood context of Deep Ellum, the architecture and streetscape of
the Deep Ellum DART Station and the overall urban design goals of the transit
system.
 The evidence of enduring and low-maintenance materials.
 Implementation, as a result of the competition process will be at the
discretion of DART.
Competition Submission Materials:
Submitted in response to the Call for Artists:
Required:

Draft Project Brief (2 pages maximum)

Design Team Qualifications (10 pages maximum)

Examples of any artwork that is representative of the qualifications
of entrant (20 images maximum)
Optional:

Supporting graphics describing proposal (5 pages maximum)

Examples of any artwork that is representative of the qualifications
of entrant (20 images maximum)
Deep Ellum Gateway Competition Brief
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Submitted in response to short list selection:

Scale maquette

Final Project Brief (5 pages maximum)

Supporting graphics describing proposal (10 pages maximum)
Submittal Requirements:

One printed copy and one CD with PowerPoint presentation of all
pertinent information. (These will remain property of DART)
Schedule:
March 16, 2007
March 23, 2007
April 27, 2007
June 29, 2007
July 6, 2007
July - September, 2007
October, 2007
May, 2008
August, 2009
Preliminary proposals due
Select finalists
Hold workshop / site visit
Presentation of final proposals
Announce winner(s)
Negotiate contract with winner(s)
Initiate design
Initiate fabrication / construction
Construction complete
Submission Policies:
DART reserves the right to decline any or all competition submittals that are in noncompliance with this Call for Artists and reserves the right to waive minor irregularities in
any and all submittals.
DART is committed to the policy that all persons shall have equal consideration without
regard to race, color, creed, national origin, disability, age or sex.
Questions:
For questions regarding the competition process, please submit them in writing to:
Dallas Area Rapid Transit
Attn: Valerie Wallace
P.O. Box 660163
Dallas, Texas 75266-7235
214.749.3846
Deep Ellum Gateway Competition Brief
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Aerial Photo showing project sites
Utilizing a strategy of connections between iconic art elements, this project has the
opportunity to welcome visitors to Deep Ellum and lead them back to the station at the
end of their visit.
Southwest corner of Gaston and Good-Latimer
This site has the ability to announce the district in a similar manner in which the tunnel
once did. Southwest of the rail station, at the juncture of Gaston and Good Latimer, and
in the site of the removed tunnel, this will be the northern-most element and the focal
point from the Deep Ellum neighborhood and an opportunity to re-mark a sense of
“Gateway” to Deep Ellum”.
Deep Ellum Gateway Competition Brief
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Northeast corner of Elm and Good-Latimer
This site will be most visually prominent from the station and will act as a strong
connection between the new light rail station and the shops and clubs of the Deep Ellum
neighborhood. This project at the juncture of Elm and Good-Latimer will function as the
main connecting knuckle of the project
Southwest corner of Main and Good-Latimer
This site will serve the important function of drawing visitors down to Main and
Commerce Streets, linking with the rest of Deep Ellum and tying to existing public
artwork and green space that is in and adjacent to an enhanced pedestrian way and the
neighborhood dog park.
Deep Ellum Gateway Competition Brief
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