I led site research and co-authored a project approach that helped my team land a $70 million contract designing California’s first high-speed rail stations.

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Recent renderings by F+P & Arup

Role Researcher, Co-Writer, Designer
For California High-Speed Rail Authority
Date 2022
Service strategy, research, spatial design, content

How do you show an agency that you can unlock the deeper power of its work?

Cruising the I-5 through the Central Valley between San Francisco and L.A. can feel like a blur of billboards and fields as far as the eye can see. But beyond most people’s view are cities that’ve been left behind, cut off from the growth and buzz of California's coastal hotspots. This is where high speed rail’s about to change the game. When the agency in charge of the project went looking for partners to design its first four stations in the Central Valley, we didn’t hesitate.

Future High-Speed Rail network, overlaid on top of the old Santa Fe Railway network

Taking the Macro View

Our bid director knew we had to get the client’s goals and the local context right to win this job, so she had me dive in. A week later, I’d scoured archives, interviewed locals, and put together a ‘context memo’ laying out the big challenges and opportunities.

When I presented it to the team, we dropped the small talk about canopies and materials to focus on the bigger story—how we could solve the client’s problems and let that motivate all of our work. Everything we pitched from then on was about addressing their needs and proving we were the right team for the job.

Bringing it Home

I teamed up with our planners to shape the project approach and led creation of high-level maps showing how the stations would impact the local communities. I also helped tighten up our pitch, pushing for strong concepts and punchy lines like “high-speed rail has the power to transform California” to build trust and show we were the right partners. We nailed it, and our new client at CHSR said our bid director made her job “easy.”