The Green Square Parking Deck is a nine-level parking structure that is part of the redevelopment of a full city block in the Green Square complex of Raleigh, NC. The development includes the parking deck, a museum and an office building. The parking deck incorporates several sustainable design strategies while providing 900 parking spaces for visitors and state employees.
Conceptually, the parking deck is conceived as a concrete frame wrapped in an enclosure screen of vertical fins. These fins, or solar blades, allow air and light to penetrate the deck, while also offering a dynamic façade to the pedestrian or car passerby. The fins are thought of like a curtain, in some cases being pulled back where openings are desired. To anchor the parking structure to the site and the adjacent buildings, the cladding transitions at the ground to a solid base of precast concrete. Stair towers are located along the street edge and major intersections to provide pedestrians with visible and safe access. Extensive glazed curtainwall provide transparency and weather protection to the vertical circulation while canopies extend horizontally from the structure to protect and transition pedestrians along the sidewalk and indicate access points for both pedestrians and vehicles.
A photovoltaic array is located above the top parking level, supplying collected solar energy directly into the power grid. Enough energy is collected to power 3000 homes per year. Rainwater is collected and stored in a cistern to be used for irrigation of the State Capital area grounds. Both the cistern and the PV array are expressed as architectural elements. The PV array doubles as a sunshade for the top level of parking, which is typically exposed to direct sun and the elements. The cistern is located at a prominent corner where the solar blades have been pulled back to reveal the cistern.
Awards
ULI Triangle J.W. Willie York Award Finalist, 2014
