Talk to Me About Parking Garages

[Rhinocerosis]

As I drove into work this morning, I started thinking about parking garages. Yeah, I know, pretty exciting . . .

I wondered what are the various designs of parking garages and how do designers pick them. Questions arose in my mind, like:

[ul]
[li]Are the ramps on the inside or outside of the structure? [/li][li]Do ramps on contiguous floors send traffic in the same or opposite directions? [/li][li]What about two-way ramps versus one-way ramps? [/li][li]Are angled parking spaces better or worse than straight parking spaces? [/li][li]What’s the largest one? [/li][li]What’s the tallest? [/li][li]Is there an industry standard for garages? [/li][li]What are the new trends that people are seeing?[/li][/ul]
Like I said, pretty scintillating stuff right there.

[Lsura]

I can’t answer any of your questions. But I work at a university where one of our classroom buildings is a former parking garage. The campus master plan has it being demolished in the next few years, but it’s a building with an interesting history.

New employees almost always ask at some point when they’re fairly new “what’s the deal with the building with the ramps?”. And they’re told the tale and some don’t quite believe it.

[Rhinocerosis]

I park in a parking garage that used to be a multi-story department store (Sakowitz). What you see in that picture is what the building looks like today – from the outside.

Essentially, they ripped out all of the walls and fixtures on the department store floors, built long and steep concrete ramps between the floors, and kept everything else the same. You can still see the tile on some of the floors of the garage. The biggest problem are the columns supporting the structure. It is extremely tight to fit most vehicles through the columns.

[kanicbird]

They vary all over the place, though ramps are typically internal, and many have parking on the ramps. The concept is to get as many cars as possible in the space available. That ‘space available’ is going to dictate what type and traffic flow model they will use.

[sciurophobic]

I like how some of the new garages have lights above each spot that turn red or green to let you know if there are empty spaces in what otherwise appears to be a full aisle.

[Voyager]

@sciurophobic

I like how some of the new garages have lights above each spot that turn red or green to let you know if there are empty spaces in what otherwise appears to be a full aisle.

IIRC, the one at SFO (long term) tells you how many spaces are left on each level.

[kferr]

A design I’ve seen a few times in the UK is straight ramps between levels for coming in and a single spiral ramp for the exit. You can enter the spiral from any level.

[Sarabellum]

If I had to make a guess, I’d say that the parking structureat Disneyland in Anaheim, CA, has got to be up there, as far as size and capacity. By far, the largest parking garage I’ve ever seen. Biggest in the world? I don’t know, but it’s BIG. Each level, and there are six, holds around 2,000 cars. Maybe there’s some airports with bigger parking capacity than Disney, but as far as single-building parking structures go, I think the Disney one is probably the largest.

It’s very efficient, as well, with attendants guiding you into the nearest double-length pull-through space, and a dedicated pair of escalators for each level, to get large numbers of people quickly up and down to the trams.

[Dendarii_Dame]

@Lsura

New employees almost always ask at some point when they’re fairly new “what’s the deal with the building with the ramps?”. And they’re told the tale and some don’t quite believe it.

You could tell them it’s the ultimate in wheelchair-accessibility. (It has elevators where needed too, right?"

[stillownedbysetters]

They are multi-leveled concrete temporary storage facilities for motor vehicles, but that’s not important right now.

[The_Stainless_Steel_Rat]

According to a Forbes Article from 2008, here are some monsters…

Over the past few years, Smith has helped design six garages with 10,000 spaces or more. One of her key projects was the garage in Detroit Airport’s McNamera terminal, which at 11,500 spaces is the largest parking structure built all at one time.

The Walker company has also worked with the Mall of America, which has two 6,000-car garages and an 8,000-car unit in the works. For now, though, the West Edmonton Mall in Alberta, Canada, remains king of shopping-center parking. With 20,000 spaces in its wrap-around parking structure, West Edmonton holds the Guinness world record for the largest parking lot.

Does that mean West Edmonton has the largest parking structure in the world, then? It all depends on your definition. Some argue that the mall’s garage-lot hybrid shouldn’t count as a single structure, which would make Seattle’s airport garage the winner with its 13,000 spaces under a single roof.

Then, there are those who think in terms of largest parking facilities. With its twin garage structure, each containing about 10,000 spaces, Universal Studios tops the list of largest parking complexes. Most airports have multiple mega-garages too. The Denver International Airport has two 7,000-car giants, and Baltimore’s airport boasts both an 8,400-car and a 5,300-car structure.

But it’s not just airports and theme parks building jumbo parking garages. Microsoft is constructing a 5,000-car underground garage near its Redmond, Wash., headquarters, and Best Buy recently completed a 6,800-car garage for its base in Richfield, Minn.

Meanwhile, large projects that combine residential and office areas with retail outlets are sprouting up in cities across the country. Atlanta’s recent Atlantic Station development includes a 7,500-car garage that’s mostly underground, and New Jersey’s Meadowlands Xanadu complex will have a whopping 12,885 spaces in its parking facility when it opens next year.

[LSLGuy]

@stillownedbysetters

They are multi-leveled concrete temporary storage facilities for motor vehicles, but that’s not important right now.

Golf clap. Clap clap clap.

[Urbanredneck]

One problem is getting in or out of some of them because their is often just one in and out lane which everyone must cooperate with. I once was stuck for over an hour getting out of one in St. Louis after a ballgame.

[El_Kabong]

@Rhinocerosis

As I drove into work this morning, I started thinking about parking garages. Yeah, I know, pretty exciting . . .

I wondered what are the various designs of parking garages and how do designers pick them. Questions arose in my mind, like:

[ul]
[li]Are the ramps on the inside or outside of the structure? [/li][li]Do ramps on contiguous floors send traffic in the same or opposite directions? [/li][li]What about two-way ramps versus one-way ramps? [/li][li]Are angled parking spaces better or worse than straight parking spaces? [/li][li]What’s the largest one? [/li][li]What’s the tallest? [/li][li]Is there an industry standard for garages? [/li][li]What are the new trends that people are seeing?[/li][/ul]
Like I said, pretty scintillating stuff right there.

Supplemental question: Why do architects spend so much time on the appearance of office buildings but so little on the accompanying parking garages? Here in the Houston area, there are dozens of examples of shiny new glass-sheathed buildings with a non-descript, gray-painted cement parking structure planted alongside (or even in front of it).