August 6, 2026
Concrete chaos below
The 11 Types of Washington, DC, Metro Station Architecture (2018)
DC Metro has 11 station looks—and riders are split between iconic and straight-up ugly
TLDR: A look back at DC Metro says its stations come in 11 different designs, not just one famous concrete style. Riders are now battling over whether that makes the system wonderfully iconic or just famously ugly, with jokes about dystopian TV bunkers adding fuel to the drama.
Washington’s Metro system just got the full fashion breakdown: according to this revived deep dive, there are 11 basic station designs hiding in plain sight, from the famous underground “waffle” ceilings to the rarer arch styles, twin-tube oddities, and several aboveground roof shapes. Translation for non-transit nerds: those stations you thought all looked the same? Apparently, they absolutely do not. And the comments section reacted like someone had revealed there are secret breeds of pigeons.
The strongest reaction was pure "wait… how did I never notice this?" One longtime rider confessed to feeling like an idiot for missing the differences after seven years of commuting. Another was stunned to learn that stations like Wheaton and Forest Glen are basically split into separate tunnels. But the real drama came from the aesthetics war. One camp says the older stations are moody, dramatic, and unforgettable—like entering a thrilling underground world with cave air, weird smells, and field-trip magic. The other camp? Ruthless. One commenter flatly declared they all have one thing in common: they’re fugly.
And then came the jokes. One rider said the aging concrete gives off major Silo vibes, like the stations are begging you to escape to the surface. Another called out the Pentagon station for being the overlooked weirdo of the family. So yes, this article is about architecture—but the comments turned it into a full-on fight over whether DC Metro is an iconic masterpiece or a giant concrete fever dream.
Key Points
- •The article says the Washington Metro system has 11 basic architectural station designs, including four underground styles and seven aboveground styles.
- •The most common underground design is the “waffle” vault, present at 32 stations and associated with Harry Weese and the Commission of Fine Arts.
- •Arch I and Arch II are later underground precast station designs that differ mainly by the number of coffers on each half of the vault.
- •The twin tube underground design is used at Wheaton and Forest Glen, with a modified version at the lower level of Fort Totten.
- •Aboveground stations are grouped into gull wing, peaked, and gambrel categories, with Gull I identified as the original canopy type used from Metro’s 1976 opening through later expansions.