The project team will give an encore presentation at Architecture in Steel at NASCC: The Steel Conference in Charlotte, N.C. at 11:30 a.m. on Wednesday, April 12.

The judges were particularly impressed by the team’s thoughtful approach, which turns a banal task into a destination event.

“You’ve taken something very mundane that we give not a second thought to usually and injected a certain level of magic—not just waiting for the charging, but also what you can do with that time,” said Forge Prize Judge Melanie Harris, AIA, LSSYB, NCARB, who is the national healing practice director at BSA LifeStructures. “We’re all looking for efficiencies in our life these days and the last thing we want to do is wait around and do nothing while we wait for our cars to charge.”

The time it takes to recharge electrical vehicles is, the team noted, one of the primary differences between a gas and electric vehicle.

“On average, a gas stop takes around seven minutes to refill a tank,” Lee said. “A level-two charging station, which is the most common type, takes upwards of four and a half hours for a full charge. Considering this, we have an opportunity to reimagine the gas station typology into something that can revitalize local economies.”

So what to do with that time? In their vision, motorists would relax, work, play, shop, or perhaps even get healthcare while their vehicles charge—all activities that offer new economic opportunities for small communities around highway interchanges.

These charging stations are defined by striking steel canopies that offer shade. In their primary use case, for a site within the average EV range frpm both Los Angeles and San Francisco, a pathway winds through the canopies, offering vistas and an engaging space in a loop that takes about 15 minutes to explore.

The pathway connects “resiliency hubs” that would house retail and other programs to support the local needs—with photovoltaic panels on the roof, naturally. Those hubs feature a steel scrim that is both beautiful and functional, providing shade that would reduce solar gain by up to three hours a day.

The design takes advantage of steel’s unique modular potential to facilitate economical, rapid erection—and steel’s unique recyclability and circular supply chain add an additional layer of sustainability while reinventing the existing infrastructure.

“This is a vehicular kind of society,” noted Forge Prize Judge Rona Rothenberg, FAIA, DBIA, the 2022 president of AIA California, noting that it’s applicable to a vast number of sites across the country. “This is a great way to reuse what we already have and transform it into a resilient, sustainable and lasting solution.”

What motorists may not see while they’re enjoying the amenities: soil remediation. The design includes an integrated site remediation system that cleans up the petroleum leaks that make them brownfield sites and are often characteristic of gas stations.

The Level Studio Team is confident in the potential of their research and are currently pursuing leads and open to partnering with interested fabricators or development teams to bring their design to life. With the major shifts in legislation towards building up the EV infrastructure throughout the country, finding success with Electric Oasis case studies can pave the road to redefining the traditional typology.

LVL (Level) Studio was one of three finalists in the competition.

First runners-up Junior Carbajal and Masamichi Ikeda (both of JRMA Architects Engineers) won praise for their Adaptive Micro Cities design, which would create a self-sustaining virtual community with separate zones where people can live, work, and play all brought together with a series of modular boxes, to revitalize a small island in a Portland, Ore., industrial zone.

The judges were also impressed by the scale of second runner-up Then Le’s (Huntsman Architectural Group) Trans-connect multi-modal transportation hub and its thoughtful plan for everything from high-speed trains to electric airplanes in San Francisco.

The American Institute of Steel Construction’s annual Forge Prize competition celebrates emerging architects who create visionary designs that embrace steel as the primary structural component while exploring ways to increase project speed.

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