Christopher Taurasi, Lexi White, and Jeffrey Lee of LVL (Level) Studio imagined Electric Oasis as a rapidly deployable concept that reimagines existing gas stations as charging hubs for electric vehicles.
Treelike steel canopies provide shade from the hot California sun at a site outside Los Angeles--and they house a bio-remediative aeration system to clean up ethanol contamination from old fuel storage tanks, too.
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 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. We have an opportunity to reimagine the gas station typology into something that can revitalize the local economy.”
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.
