蜜桔直播

 

Driving Parking Garage Efficiency

by 蜜桔直播

For the modern commuter, parking structures may go overlooked. Any urban driver understands their necessity, but perhaps not the nuanced design elements and construction services that enhance parking garages for both owners and users.

蜜桔直播鈥檚 experienced garage builders approach every project as an opportunity to maximize efficiency for our clients鈥 budgets and schedules. Our teams and our expert trade allies build parking structures that seamlessly integrate within adjacent developments and communities, providing firm foundations for driving business.

Systematic Sequencing

Parking garages are often components of larger vertical construction. Our teams drive schedule efficiencies by maximizing collaboration at every step of the construction process.

For ground-floor and below-grade garages, creating a 鈥減ad-ready鈥 site 鈥 prepared for vertical construction above it 鈥 can be a critical first step, allowing the building team to proceed while interior garage work continues below.

鈥淏elow-grade garages are, in many ways, the literal foundations of buildings,鈥 says Alan Le, senior project manager and parking garage expert in the Mid-Atlantic. 鈥淚n those cases, we accelerate and put much of our focus on bringing the garage structure above grade so our team can begin standing up the building鈥檚 ground floors.鈥

Structurally integrated garages also frequently include the above building鈥檚 mechanical, electrical and plumbing (MEP) rooms to better enable direct maintenance access. Our teams maintain constant communication between all parties and leverage tools like BIM and to ensure that utility conduits are properly placed and prepared for seamless integration with the building鈥檚 systems, avoiding schedule delays and costly re-work.

On many projects, the garage may be adjacent to or provide the structural base of a larger development. Project sequencing is critical to driving successful outcomes of these projects.

鈥淭hese garages are typically post-tensioned and cast-in-place, so we bring them to substantial completion first and build out or up from there,鈥 says General Superintendent Greg Weber, one of 蜜桔直播鈥檚 parking garage experts in Florida. 鈥淲e build teams of structural experts who can create sequencing efficiencies at every step for parking garages below, beside or in the middle of any project.鈥

On the 14th + Spring Apartments and Novel Midtown joint projects in downtown Atlanta, Georgia, parking garage expert and Project Executive Damien Crandall and his teammates were tasked with building a five-level, below-grade parking structure that also serves as the podium for two mixed-use towers. The grand project comprised three separate contracts 鈥 one with each tower client and a joint venture between the two for the podium. Sequencing and coordination work was critical to simultaneously collaborating with and executing work for three clients and two design teams, ultimately ensuring construction of both towers could proceed as soon as possible.

鈥溍劢壑辈 took every opportunity to create sequencing advantages from our innovative podium shoring solution at 14th + Spring and Novel Midtown,鈥 Damien says. 鈥淏y incorporating it within the design of the permanent wall, we created time and budget efficiencies that lasted the entire lifecycle of the project by accelerating work overhead.鈥

Client-Driven Aesthetics

Parking garage design aesthetic may seem like a lower priority than structure and layout, but 蜜桔直播鈥檚 teams combine our varied expertise and network of trusted trade partners to meet every client鈥檚 desired goals.

Available parking drives business traffic, so some clients opt for functional, largely unadorned structures. Conversely, luxury retail, hospitality and multifamily housing developers might see the garage as an extension of their primary buildings and want a finish level to match.

鈥淟ike any building construction, we work hard to understand what the client wants for the space,鈥 Greg says. 鈥淕lass elevator lobbies, tiled stairs and stamped concrete finishes create a cohesive feeling between a luxury building and its garage, and we work with the best trade partners to provide these enhancements within our clients鈥 schedule and budget goals.鈥

Greg and his teammates created these features and more for the Lake Nona Town Center Office in Orlando for the Tavistock Development Company. The complex was expected to house a number of high-end retail opportunities and professional industry tenants, so driving new business traffic was less of a concern than extending the same polished finish throughout the offices and the garage. 蜜桔直播 delivered a space where tenant employees and visitors alike experience refined professionalism before ever stepping foot in the office building.

Another growing trend, especially in major city centers, is to build parking structures that don鈥檛 look like garages. Our teams frequently install curtain walls or perforated panels that form a veneer around the garage and create the first-glance impression of a traditional urban building. But there鈥檚 a catch: wrapping a garage in a stylish skin necessitates additional safety considerations.

鈥淭ypically, the more attractive you make a garage鈥檚 exterior, the more enclosed it becomes, increasing the likelihood of trapping vehicle exhaust,鈥 Greg says. 鈥淲e work closely with designers to conduct and analyze 鈥榦penness鈥 studies, installing mechanical ventilation systems wherever necessary to mitigate unsafe conditions.鈥

On Icon Midtown, another mixed-use tower in Atlanta, Damien and his teammates worked closely with the client to arrive at a cost-effective and aesthetic solution leveraging corrugated and perforated exterior panels.

鈥淲hen it aligns with our client鈥檚 vision, we can build garages that passersby wouldn鈥檛 even know are housing hundreds of vehicles,鈥 Damien says. 鈥淲hen necessary, we augment these enclosed garages with carbon sensors, louvres and ventilation systems, ensuring safety, form and function all at once.鈥

Firm Foundations

While some garage construction occurs on greenfield sites, parking garages and their associated buildings are often located in a major city鈥檚 downtown areas or bustling business centers. Our teams are experts at both cast-in-place and precast garage construction, capable of threading the needle in constrained urban areas and near unique terrain such as soil conditions and proximity to bodies of water.

On , a premier development in Washington, D.C., Alan and his teammates constructed three below-grade, interconnected parking garages situated between a busy city avenue, the public transit bus tunnel underneath it and the Washington Channel鈥檚 Atlantic waters on the other side.

In addition to strategic coordination and permitting with the city to work in a public space with minimal disruptions to traffic or the tunnel, the team engaged specialist trade partners and high-tech solutions to ensure their work did not result in soil stability issues. The team鈥檚 proactive planning prevented a number of potential catastrophic outcomes, including tunnel collapse on one side or jobsite flooding on the other.

鈥淲e attached thousands of monitors to the tunnel and the side of the channel that could read real-time shifts in fractions of inches,鈥 Alan says. 鈥淓specially on the water side, we measured the shifts caused by the tidal patterns and, where necessary, reinforced the sides of our excavation footprint with berm.鈥

The project team further reinforced the garages鈥 foundations by conducting boring tests at the lowest excavation points, measuring soil stability and reinforcing weak spots accordingly with rigid inclusions known as micro piles.

Beyond ensuring The Wharf鈥檚 structural integrity, the team applied another innovative solution to enhance the end-user experience: a two-inch-thick rubber mat, wrapped around most of the tunnel-side excavation and nearby concrete footings. The mats acted as a dampening system, shielding the luxury offices, hospitality spaces and condominiums from metro tunnel vibrations.

Because of the Wharf鈥檚 unique surroundings, the garages are well suited to a cast-in-place construction method, but the team is equally adept at deploying precast solutions where it can create budget savings.

鈥淧recast garage panels can often save clients money, but they aren鈥檛 the right fit for every project site, especially the below-grade garages we often build in the Washington, D.C. area,鈥 Alan says. 鈥淓ither way, 蜜桔直播 has the depth of project experience to advise clients on the advantages of either method.鈥

In Atlanta, the 14th + Spring and Novel Midtown project team鈥檚 combined shoring and exterior wall podium solution was not only an efficient sequencing accomplishment, but also ensured soil integrity beneath and nearby the project site.

鈥淚n addition to contending with the project site鈥檚 high water table, our soil was comprised mostly of clay interspersed with granite and weathered rock,鈥 Damien says. 鈥淭he dual podium was situated near a Georgia Power substation, so as we excavated and dewatered the site, we constantly analyzed the grade to ensure the drying soil wouldn鈥檛 compress or shift.鈥

Excavating a five-level, sub-grade garage in an area with extensive granite inclusions comes with its own set of challenges. Among the 150,000 cubic yards of excavated material, the project team worked with trusted trade partners and tools like ground penetrating radar (GPR) to analyze the soil integrity below their excavation site.

Through strategic boring and in the course of normal excavation, the team also identified and successfully removed several massive granite boulders as large as a golf cart or even a small sedan. To further shore up the site鈥檚 stability, the team also replaced any voids left by boulder removal with additional deep foundations.

On the Krog Street parking garage in Atlanta, the team transported 14-foot wide, double-tee panels through the historic district鈥檚 two-lane streets. Using cost-effective precast panels suited the garage鈥檚 size and the client鈥檚 budgetary goals, but required constant communication between the team, the city and adjacent businesses to avoid disruptions.

鈥淎s building and parking garage construction professionals with decades of experience, we鈥檝e seen it all,鈥 says Damien. 鈥淲e鈥檙e able to anticipate, prepare for and overcome any challenges unique to our area, building safe and user-friendly structures on reliable budgets and accelerated schedules.鈥

Concrete Casting Solutions

Most parking garages 蜜桔直播 has built in Florida are parts of larger developments, so cast-in-place solutions largely prevail. Still, the team provides the cost- and schedule-saving advantages of precast when it suits a client鈥檚 needs, as with an upcoming project at Jacksonville International Airport (JIA).

鈥淭he choice between precast and cast-in-place is truly client-driven, based on their desired design, budget, and maintenance considerations,鈥 Greg says. 鈥淓ither way, our teams provide the insight and expertise to drive toward the most efficient option. We excel at helping our clients get what they want.鈥

Although possible to construct, below-grade garages are far less common in Florida due to the excessive cost of mitigating flooding and drainage concerns. Still, each garage鈥檚 foundational integrity remains a critical consideration.

Florida鈥檚 high water table necessitates unique solutions. We incorporate the expertise of our deep foundation, waterproofing and concrete trade partners to provide soil stabilization solutions, spread concrete footers, foundation piles and pile caps and hydrostatic resistant slabs that all contribute to the structure鈥檚 safety, stability and ability to support a significant load of vehicles each day.

Challenging and Driving Efficiency

On every project, at every opportunity, 蜜桔直播鈥檚 parking garage experts identify innovative solutions to deliver best-in-class structures for our clients. Parking garages are essential to our clients鈥 business needs, and 蜜桔直播 is the right partner to ensure success on every level.