GOLD 1 GARAGE, The Stadium Authority of the City of Pittsburgh built a 331,600-ft 2 parking structure to serve daily commuters working in Pittsburgh and the North Side community, as well as the adjacent baseball and football stadiums. The North Side is a hub of retail, entertain-ment, and office space, all creating demand for additional parking in the North Shore development. The 1000-car Gold 1 Garage sup-ports both daily commuter and event parking. PITTSBURGH, PA. The North Shore Gold I project is a highly functional and sustainable parking structure, recognized as the first structured parking facility in the world to be certified Parksmart Gold. Precast concrete construction contributed toward this achievement by supporting many Parksmart measures. Photos: Halkin Mason Photography. Three Rivers Design Larry Payne, senior principal at WTW Architects, describes the façade of the six-story precast concrete structure: “It features a sculptural array of aluminum fins that shimmer in the sun, paying homage to the three rivers that define the city. Installed at vary-ing angles, the fins shimmer in the sunlight as one moves past the structure, much like the sun reflects on the rivers. Set off from the precast panels, the fins cast shadows that further enhance the dy-namic qualities of the façade.” Precast concrete vertical elements were used to create a rhythm and scale that relate to both the distant view and the close-up pedestrian experience. Two colors of precast concrete provide a backdrop for the aluminum fins and provide lighter, inviting, stand-alone elements. The scale, modulation, color, and organization of the vertical and horizontal precast concrete elements enhance the identification of vehicular and pedestrian entrances that are essen-tial in creating an efficient flow of vehicles. ture is adjacent to bus stops, light rail transit stations, water taxi docks, and bicycle parking areas. The facility bifurcated the existing surface parking Lot 1 in such a way as to create dedicated access to three surface lots in addition to the parking structure. The proj-ect features precast concrete colored sections along with textured areas, aluminum louvers and storefront framing, glass, exposed steel, and perforated and wire screens. The design team collaborated throughout the entire design and construction process to ensure targeted Parksmart measures were achieved. Having previously completed design and certifica-tions for multiple LEED projects made for a seamless transition to the Parksmart rating system. And, given the point breakdown for Parksmart, it is particularly important for design teams to collab-orate with the owners because approximately 62% of potential points are under the management and programs categories, which design teams have less opportunities to impact. Sideline Site A key challenge was to design and build the structure as quickly as possible and impact only one season each of the local professional baseball and football teams. The use of precast concrete construc-tion was used to facilitate meeting this goal. An additional challenge was to keep within a budget that was originally developed for a basic parking structure with no architec-tural fenestration. The use of precast concrete reduced the sched-ule, which in turn trimmed the construction cost, which enabled the incorporation of textured precast concrete spandrels and ver-tical aluminum fins to create the signature façade. When seeking sustainable goals, the category most impacted by the use of precast concrete was the technology and structure category, including coatings, paints, and sealants with no or low Parksmart℠ Gold Construction methods and materials for the Gold 1 Garage aligned with sustainability goals by incorporating a design for durability and other strategies recognized by Parksmart SM . Over 85% of the material taken from the site during excavation was recycled. Vari-ous materials used in the project, including precast concrete, were sourced and/or manufactured regionally. In addition, construction workers lived within 75 miles of the site, parked in specific locations outside the city, and took shuttles to the site to reduce their car-bon footprint. The site of the parking structure is in an optimal location, pro-viding multiple means of ingress and egress. In addition, the struc-
Ascent Summer 2020: Page 22
