A UC Davis Health parking facility in Sacramento, California, and a privately owned parking structure in Austin, Texas, are the latest parking buildings to receive design awards from the Precast/Prestressed Concrete Institute (PCI).
Announced on January 14, the 2025 PCI Design Awards included two honoring parking garages: The UC Davis Health Parking Structure IV was named the winner of the All-Precast Concrete Parking Structure category, while the Austin parking facility owned by Colina West Real Estate was named the winner in the Parking Structure (Facade Only) category.
Prioritizing pedestrians
Comprising 5 stories and more than 1,200 parking spaces, the UC Davis Health Parking Structure IV is an all-precast-concrete structure featuring double tees, columns, and beams, according to a description provided by PCI.
The project team for the 351,230 square-foot structure included the architecture firm of Dreyfuss and Blackford, the engineer of record Watry Design, and the precast concrete producer and general contractor Clark Pacific. All told, the project cost $42 million, of which $9 million was for the precast concrete, according to PCI.
“By leveraging precast concrete, the project team eliminated 3,700 worker days from the project timeline, allowing the project to be completed in just under one year,” according to the PCI’s project description. “Off-site manufacture of the precast concrete components resulted in approximately 40% reduction in overall construction traffic.”
The facility’s design “prioritized the pedestrian experience,” said Michael D. Godfrey, CAPP, CPP, the director of Parking, Transportation, and Fleet Services for UC Davis Health. “From both inside and outside, the architectural precast concrete provides the most open and clear spaces, designed to emphasize safety and a feeling of awareness of where the user is and clarity of where they need to go,” Godfrey said.
The exposed double tee ends at the perimeter of the building provide visual interest while contributing to the open nature of the facility, said Randy Clark, the director of engineering at Clark Pacific. “They allow more natural light and air to flow into the building by simply changing some basic geometry of the precast elements, reducing the perimeter spandrel depth below the floor slab to expose the double tee ends and increasing the opening size from floor to floor,” Clark said. “This feature gives the feeling of more openness and visibility to parking structures that are typically perceived as dark and confined.”
Award-winning facade
The mixed-use development located at 7001 Burnet Road in Austin, Texas, includes three buildings: a 5-story structure with offices and commercial space, a 2-story pavilion that serves as a hub for offices and a restaurant, and a 5-story parking structure. The parking structure “features a unique facade constructed with architectural precast concrete panels,” according to a description provided by PCI.
The award-winning facade consists of 69 such panels, totaling nearly 10,000 square feet, that “bring the open-air exterior of the parking garage at 7001 Burnet Road to life,” according to PCI.
The panels “create some unexpected effects on the interior of the structure,” PCI’s description states. “Instead of typical uniform illumination, a cascade of light rays and shadows is projected onto the floors and walls of the parking garage, creating unusual and unexpected interactions with light for users.”
The project team included the architecture firm Gomez Vazquez International, the engineer of record MJ Structures, the general contractor Austin Commercial, precast-concrete producer and specialty engineer GATE Precast, and C&A Erectors.
“Installation of the precast concrete components was completed in just 12 days in July 2023,” according to PCI’s description. Although the overall cost of the project was not disclosed, the precast concrete totaled nearly $795,000, according to PCI.
The two parking facilities, along with the other winning projects, will be recognized on February 6 at the 2025 PCI Convention in Indianapolis, Indiana.
Jay Landers is the editor-in-chief of Parking Today. He can be reached at jay@parkingtoday.com.
