Sam Houston State’s newest garage is a model of smart lighting and user-focused innovation.

By Anthony Sarti

In fall 2024, the College of Osteopathic Medicine (COM) within Sam Houston State University completed a 328,000-square-foot parking garage that accentuates the college’s presence in Conroe, Texas, about 40 miles north of Houston. The five-level garage offers 983 parking spaces in a highly visible structure that acts as a billboard for those traveling on Interstate 45.

The structure provides additional parking for COM’s students, faculty, and staff, as well as parking for a four-story health professions building currently under construction. Designed with end users in mind, the facility boasts multiple features, including lighting, that were selected for their ability to improve the experience for parkers.

Stabilizing the structure

The project is located on sandy soils once occupied by the West Fork of the San Jacinto River.  Although an effective natural solution for absorbing stormwater runoff, the sandy soils required the construction team to employ Rammed Aggregate Piers, a ground improvement system developed by Geopier, a division of CMC, the provider of construction and engineering products and services.

The piers were installed 10 to 12 feet beneath the surface to stabilize the structure in the sandy terrain. This enhanced the soil strength by compacting the aggregate tightly within the piers, thereby reducing settlement and improving support for the structure. The process involved drilling deep holes into the ground and filling them with layers of high-quality aggregate material. Each layer was meticulously compacted using a specialized ramming tool, creating a dense, stable column that could support the weight of the garage. This technique not only improved the load-bearing capacity of the soil but also mitigated potential settlement issues that could arise from the unpredictable nature of the sandy riverbed.

“The use of Geopier Rammed Aggregate Piers exemplifies the project’s commitment to employing sustainable and innovative construction practices, ultimately enhancing the overall integrity and longevity of the parking garage,” said Lance Smith, project executive for Hoar Construction, the general contractor on the project.

Enhancing the user experience

The exterior of the structure includes backlit vertical colored fabric panels depicting abstract DNA sequencing, supporting the theme of the existing campus while also providing essential ventilation. To enhance the connection to the COM and the visibility of the garage, this exterior lighting can change colors for special occasions and national holidays via programmable luminaires. Leveraging views from the freeway, two light boxes showcase the Sam Houston State University logo at the north and east facades. 

Additionally, wayfinding and branding graphics help visitors easily find stairways and elevators once inside the garage. The main set of stairs employs a unique design that showcases a health-inspired graphic combining university brand colors, DNA sequencing, and images related to human health.

To enhance the user experience, the garage employs gateless parking access, license plate recognition cameras, and a parking guidance system. Electric vehicle charging stations are an added convenience for faculty, staff, students, and visitors. 

“Since the parking structure opened, everyone has reacted very positively to its unique design features, which were incorporated to enhance users’ experiences and help ensure positive impressions,” said Amy Huddleston, the project manager for facilities management at Sam Houston State University.

Illumination’s importance

Lighting is an important feature in parking garages, especially because most fixtures are on continuously. The lighting must accommodate vehicular and pedestrian traffic, endure harsh operating environments, and address public safety considerations. Bright, uniform illumination helps with visibility and security. Because first impressions are important, the right lighting also helps patrons form a favorable opinion of the space even before they enter it. 

Well-designed exterior lighting can also increase the feeling of security, help prevent injury to patrons, and play a critical role in the prevention and deterrence of crime. Security is one of the most critical issues facing owners and operators of parking facilities today. According to a 1996 report from the U.S. Department of Justice, lighting is one of the best ways to increase safety and reduce crime in parking structures. 

Titled “Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design in Parking Facilities,” the report also emphasized the importance of uniformity in lighting: “Passing from light to dark areas creates problems for drivers because of the eye’s inability to adjust rapidly. It is also imperative to get light into the edges of parking stalls rather than just into driving aisles. Maintaining an appropriate uniformity ratio avoids these problems.”

Another key lighting consideration is glare, which reduces the contrast of an object against its background, making it difficult for the eye to perceive depth accurately. Glare is a potential hazard for all drivers but is particularly dangerous for senior citizens and other individuals with weak or impaired vision.

Kirksey Architecture — the architectural firm on the project — reached out to Michelle Holman, the managing partner of CW Lighting, which served as lighting representative on the project, to discuss the structure’s lighting. Because the code requires the interior fixtures to include dimming capabilities, Holman specified Kenall Manufacturing’s HELOS parking garage (HPG) series luminaire. The fixture’s sleek architectural design complements the structure, and its light weight — a mere 7 pounds — made the ease of installation an unexpected, but welcomed, benefit to the contractor. 

With years of positive experience working with Kenall and the manufacturer’s products, Holman knew this would be an ideal fixture for this project. “I trust Kenall’s HPG product line and wanted to provide the university with long-lasting, virtually maintenance-free light fixtures,” Holman said. 

The parking structure has 1,185 40W and 70W HPG luminaires. Designed and manufactured entirely in Kenall’s Wisconsin production facility, the low-glare luminaires are critically important to the parking structure and enhance drivers’ visual acuity. The HPG improves vertical illumination to help drivers identify oncoming pedestrians, provide safe car entry, and enhance the visibility of columns and other objects within the structure. 

“Since we included many forward-thinking features to enhance the user experience, we wanted to specify an innovative lighting solution that also provided a stress-free installation and uniform, bright light to make students, facility, and staff feel safe,” said Paul Newsoroff, a partner and the director of commercial practice for Kirksey Architecture. “Kenall’s HELOS HPG series provides superior glare control without compromising light levels,” he added.

Project Credits
Owner: Sam Houston State University’s College of Osteopathic Medicine
Architect and branding and graphics provider: Kirksey Architecture
Parking consultant: Walter P Moore
Structural and civil engineer: Dally + Associates
Mechanical, electrical, and plumbing engineer and technology consultant: Teliosity
General contractor: Hoar Construction
Landscape architect: Asakura Robinson
Lighting representative: CW Lighting
Parking garage lighting provider: Kenall Manufacturing ANTHONY SARTI is the southern regional sales manager at Kenall Manufacturing. He may be reached at [email protected].