Safety Spires

Seattle, WA

Painted steel, thermoformed acrylic, overhead cantinary support poles, ©2006 photo:J.Babuca

Over 200 Overhead Contact System poles with specialty paint and spire-shaped finials. The poles within Sound Transit Maintenance Facility are striped with black and “safety green” paint. The artwork is inspired by a prehistoric plant indigenous to this region – commonly known as the horsetail or Scouring Rush. The patterning on the horsetail, along with allusions to bamboo and spring growth seemed evocative of the renewal, maintenance and caring for the system taking place at the facility.

Safety Spires in front of the Maintanance Bays at the Sound Transit O&M Facility in Seattle WA


This project created in collaboration with Norie Sato. Photo: Richard L. Baron