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Santa Monica Civic Center Parking Structure -
PARKING National Parking Association

 

Article from PARKING National Parking Association - July 2007
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Parking Goes ‘Green’

The new Santa Monica Civic Center parking structure opened in March, with city officials, councilmembers, principal architect James Mary O’Connor, AIA, his colleagues from Moore Ruble Yudell Architects and Planners, and many others in attendance.

The structure is the only Green Building Council Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certified parking structure in the United States. The design features holistic elements of green building, including sustainable building materials, photovoltaic roof shade canopies, which provide all of the building’s energy needs, storm drain water treatment and high efficiency mechanical systems. The garage has 882 parking spaces accommodated in six levels above grade and one and one-half below grade, and includes reserved spaces for public safety vehicles, bicycles and electric vehicle charging stations. The building includes a restaurant on the second level and ground level offi ce space. Colorful glass panels decorate the exterior and sculptures by Mark Lere throughout the structure serve as aesthetic landmarks.

The colored vertical strips total 7,000 square feet of custom-painted, Prismasolar texture LINIT channel glass planks supplied by Bendheim Wall Systems and manufactured by Lamberts in Germany.

According to O’Connor, recipient of the American Institute of Architects (AIA) Young Architects Award, the design team was challenged to create a building that exemplified the city’s commitment to sustainable design while strengthening the urban fabric and providing public amenities.

“One of the challenges for this project is to create architecture out of a common building type--one that is not generally associated with high design standards,” he said. “The design addresses this standard service amenity by viewing it from a fresh perspective and taking it to a higher level where it can have a positive influence on its surroundings. Primarily, the building provides 900 parking spaces. In addition, the structure off ers a visually memorable arrival point and gateway to the new Civic Center, street-level retail and café amenities, spectacular views of the Pacific Ocean and the city, a garden, and a sense of personal safety.”

The building works efficiently at four different levels:

An Urban Solution
The varied amenities incorporated into the parking structure allow the designed mass to function beyond its service capacity. The four sides of the building acknowledge the individual urban contexts, thus serving as a fully designed urban presence. Small commercial spaces at the pedestrian level expand the building’s civic edge, creating a destination as well as a gateway. A lively café on the main plaza terrace animates the pedestrian flow into and out of the heart of the Civic Center. The urban plaza and commissioned works of art highlight both the inside and the outside of the building, making it more hospitable to the community than an ordinary parking structure.

A Sustainable Structure
The building functions as an efficient sustainable designed structure. Photovoltaic panels on the roof and laminated to three façades of the built mass provide much of the building’s energy needs. The array of angled photovoltaic cells serves to accentuate the skyline and provides a memorable symbol for the Civic Center.

All façades allow natural ventilation and illumination to enter all parking floors. The ceilings are painted white to maximize the quality of light and airiness. Multicolored glass panels welcome day-lighting into the structure, decreasing the amount of artificial light that is generally needed for this type of building while adding a glowing beauty to the interior by day and a luminous exterior by night.

Increased Safety and Security
The design incorporates several features that provide comfort, safety, and security for users. Parking is organized on eight floors, accessed via a centralized circulation spine. The elevator core and stairs are positioned with respect to the two major pedestrian paths in the Civic Center campus. Access and exits have been consolidated at two corners of the building, which serve as a control point to efficiently channel both pedestrian and vehicular traffic towards destination points. The reflective surface of the façade can be illuminated after sunset to glow as a shimmering curtain, providing defensible space through a pleasing ambient light.

A Unique Presence: Material Palette
The design does not disguise the utilitarian nature of the building, but instead seeks to celebrate this aspect as part of the design aesthetic. Automobiles, from their colors, types, and movement, are integrated as elements in the overall design strategy. The design solution uses colored laminated glass channels, photovoltaic panels, ribbed pre-cast concrete panels, and steel mesh to render a unique civic presence.

“At the start of the project we talked (to the City of Santa Monica) about taking their new green standards and taking something which is generally bad—like a parking structure—and turning it upside down to be a message for the city,” said O’Connor. “Recently, I was out there in the evening and saw some tourists taking photographs of the structure and I thought, “Well that’s it. That’s what I want.”