About the Project
Located off Wood Street in West Oakland, the 16th Street train station sits empty. Damaged in the 1989 Loma Prieta Earthquake and long vacant, this important and iconic building is threatened with neglect. As a former Southern Pacific Rail station it served as the western headquarters for the International Brotherhood of sleeping car porters and maids, the first black union in the US.
New development plans are sidelining the structure while applications for historical landmark status are pending. From September- December 2024, Students at the Academy of Art School of Architecture partnered with the Oakland Heritage Alliance to envision futures for the 16th Street Train Station in West Oakland. Through a community workshop and research, students created 5 proposals to revitalize the station in the hopes that it will help folks visualize future possibilites and advocate for the station.
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A Center for Rebirth
Raquel Vera and Allen RiveraThe 16th Street Station in West Oakland was a beacon of safety and entertainment and was alive with the promise of new beginnings. But now, those memories have faded, and the station has been largely forgotten, its grandeur reduced to a shadow of its vibrant past. This station holds deep historical significance. During the Great Migration, it served as a major entry point for Black migrants escaping the oppressive Jim Crow South in search of better opportunities. It was a place of hope, a stepping stone to a new life.
Yet today, it stands in need of restoration—not just to honor its past but to reimagine its role in the present. Our project seeks to bring about a rebirth of the 16th Street Station, transforming it into a community hub and wellness center that reflects the spirit of those it once serve. At its heart will be a focus on health and well-being, particularly for Black women, who face disproportionately high mortality rates during childbirth. The center will house birthing facilities designed to provide a natural, supportive, and empowering environment, especially for high-risk pregnancies as well as public healing gardens, wellness classes, an event space, a café, and a museum to create spaces for connection, learning, and rejuvenation.
This vision not only honors the station’s historic legacy but also ensures its future as a vital part of the West Oakland community—a place where new beginnings continue to unfold.
Modules of Hope
Kouassi Simon Yao & Mohammed Abdulhabeb
Steeped in history, the 16th Street Station and the community that cherishes it are calling for a revival. This transformation aims to preserve its past while providing a sustainable, forward-looking vision to serve future generations.
The revitalized station will feature spaces that honor its history and connection to the Civil Rights movement and the rise of the Black middle class, while offering economic knowledge and opportunities. A branch of an HBCU (Historically Black College and University) will host a graduate business program, complemented by a Civil and Labor Rights center, shops, and pop-up food stalls. This blend of learning, activism, and commerce will create a vibrant hub that resonates with the community's needs.
Closely linked with the West Oakland neighborhood, the modular design, using repurposed shipping containers, will present a modern and dynamic approach to house the college. This design is separate from the station's walls and roof, allowing the Beaux-Arts interior to remain in its original beauty. The vertical arrangement of the bright shipping containers creates a feeling of a small cityscape and offers opportunities for community engagement and a welcoming atmosphere, contrasting with its former image as an isolated relic. In doing so, the station will not only preserve its heritage but also anchor itself in a future full of purpose and connection.
A New Hub
Jeffrey Luc & JD Nguyen
The Station Revival Center, aims to transform the Station into the crucial hub it once was by creating a new wellness hub.
The new station offers culinary training, growing, and cooking for local youth and a communal basketball court at the heart of the station. The West Oakland Bike Link Project enters and winds through the building, an ongoing project that plans to add new trails and pathways connecting East Bay’s existing methods of travel.
By providing equitable mobility and restoring access for West Oakland’s Communities to the greater Bay Area the Revival Center can begin to mitigate the isolating effects of nearby infrastructural projects like the 880 Freeway and Bart.
Harlem West Oakland
Aric Hope & Evangelina Shutko
Jazz in West Oakland carries deep historical and cultural significance, tracing back to the early 20th century when West Oakland emerged as a vibrant center for African American life and artistic expression.
The Harlem West Oakland Jazz Center, housed in the historic 16th Street Train Station, breathes new life into this landmark as a dynamic venue celebrating jazz and Afrofuturist arts. Within the center, recording studios, classrooms, exhibition galleries, and welcoming gathering spaces foster a hub for professional musicians and artists and curious newcomers alike.
The new architectural vision introduces fresh performance spaces of varying scales, from intimate corners to communal stages. Drawing inspiration from the dynamic nature of jazz venues and theatrical drama, the design incorporates a prominent ramp and a flowing, horizontal curtain like feature that evokes the drama and movement of live performances and music. These bold, colorful, and expressive elements seamlessly blend into the historic architecture, enhancing its classic features.
The Harlem West Oakland Jazz Center invites the community to connect, celebrate, learn, and dance, preserving the rich cultural legacy of jazz for future generations and solidifying West Oakland’s place as a vital cultural destination.
Switchyard Station
Mark Bega & Alex Boyd
The Switchyard Station transforms the existing 16th Street Station on the Southern Pacific Railroad into a multi-purpose building designed to meet the needs of current and future inhabitants of the surrounding Prescott neighborhood. Paying homage to the rich history of both the station as the ultimate destination for many travelers on Intercontinental Railroad and the neighborhood as a center for the Civil Rights movement is central to our design. While accessible to all, the building is tailored to the needs of currently unhoused and food insecure inhabitants of the area many of which were part of yhe the recently cleared Wood Street Encampment.
The main hall in its current form serves as a rest stop and the Switchyard Station holds a series of single-user bathing facilities and spaces for a warm meal. In this way, the station aims to alleviate the most pressing needs of those in the neighborhood with few options otherwise.
On a new upper floor within the main hall, several office spaces will be available for uses such as counseling, study/ tutor rooms, or even rentable to local small business owners as office space. These users too can take advantage of the onsite food services and even engage with their neighbors here.