Center Street Garage 2014- 2018

Architects: Marcy Wong Donn Logan Architects
Architectct in Record: International Parking Design, Inc. (IPD)
Lighting Designer: Architecture & Light, Berkeley, California, USA
Client: City of Berkeley, Berkeley, California, USA
Photographers: Billy Hustace, Robert.P. Calderwood, M.Wong

The City of Berkeley’ s Downtown Arts District is a popular destination for locals and visitors alike. People arrive by public transportation, bike or car to frequent bars, shops and restaurants, or attend events. The original 1950’s garage that served this population, was not only insufficient in parking capacity, but was woefully below current seismic safety standards. This architectural sleight of hand is a visual feat in response to a challenging brief: create a behemoth eight story, 720-car parking garage (300 more parking spaces than the old garage) on a tight mid-block site in the downtown arts district. Demanding mandates included aggressively reduced energy use (beat Title 24 by 15%), easy maintenance, dark sky compliance, low glare, and straightforward controls, all while providing a creative façade illumination fitting of its artistic context.

Greener Parking - Sustainability Features

The 720-space garage features are exclusively developed to promote sustainable practices. The ground floor hosts a bicycle parking and a valet parking for 350 bikes as well. Additionally, preferred parking for low-emitting and fuel-efficient vehicles and electric vehicle charging stations facilities are also present. This building is famously hailed by the City’s Mayor as “probably the greenest parking garage in California” owing to its environmentally sustainable features such as fenced-off rainwater-runoff bio-swales along each side that steers rainwater runoff into an underground cistern, high-efficiency color changing LED lighting in public-art facade, car share parking, and micro-grid hub providing emergency power. The garage was designed to capture environmental benefits for energy efficiency, material reuse and water conservation. The garage roof houses solar Photovoltaic panels and a rainwater capture system for landscaping. The structure has been designed with recycled and regional materials for its construction, and no/low VOC Paints and coatings, constructed by locally sourced workers.