DESIGN FOR THE DINKY: Princeton University has selected architect Rick Joy of Tucson, Arizona to design the new Dinky station that will be situated south of the current terminal. The controversial move is part of the University’s Arts and Transit neighborhood on the western edge of campus. (Rendering Courtesy of Beyer Blinder Belle, Michael VanValkenburg Associates, and Steven Holl Architects)

An architect known for his work on buildings in the desert landscape of Arizona has been selected to lead the design of the new Dinky train station. Rick Joy, whose Rick Joy Architects is based in Tucson, will collaborate with Steven Holl Architects and Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates on the project, part of Princeton University’s $300 million Arts and Transit neighborhood planned for the western edge of the campus.

The controversial move of the Dinky station, which some hope can still be prevented, would relocate the terminus some 460 feet south of its current location. The redevelopment plan calls for the current Dinky station to be turned into a restaurant or cafe. Mr. Joy is also charged with designing a new building for the Wawa convenience store, currently located on the corner of University Place and Alexander Street.

The University plans to present its plans to the Regional Planning Board sometime this spring. Zoning changes for the project were approved late last year by both the Borough and Township, and those changes have been challenged by a group of residents in a lawsuit.

Along with the hiring of Mr. Joy, the University made some modifications to some of its original plans for the parcel. In a letter to the Planning Board on February 2, University Vice President and Secretary Bob Durkee wrote, “These modifications allow us to meet zoning requirements, but they also respond to some community concerns about whether the site will be sufficiently open and accessible to members of the community. The relocation and reorientation also respond to community interest in making sure that the site can accommodate possible future mass transit options by introducing greater flexibility in the area.”

Durkee added that the new plans will improve walking paths from Forbes College to the campus and provide a greater sense of connection between the transit area and the arts buildings in the first phase of the project. Traffic patterns will be significantly improved, he wrote, as will short-term parking options in the plaza and the station building. The design “reserves the possibility of a later-phase building at some point in the future on the site between the Holl buildings and University Place,” he wrote.

Mr. Joy founded his firm in 1993. He received the 2002 American Academy of Arts and Letters Award in Architecture and in 2004 won the National Design Award from the Smithsonian Institute/Cooper-Hewitt Museum. He has been a visiting professor at Harvard Graduate School of Design, Rice University, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Among the projects currently listed on his website is Le Massif de Charlevoix, a $230 million tourism and recreation project in Quebec, Canada containing a train station, lodging units, public square, boutiques, restaurants, and cafes.