Center Street Parking Garage

Local firm Marcy Wong Donn Logan Architects was tasked by the City of Berkeley, Calif., to design an eight-story, 720-car parking garage on a tight mid-block site in the downtown arts district. To fit the behemoth structure within this context and counter the archetypical grim parking garage, the firm conceived two sculptural and textural façades using perforated steel panels, colorfully illuminated pleated metal walls, carefully executed lighting, and cantilevered stairwells—vividly finished in red on the north elevation and green on the south elevation. To create depth and mystery, the designers worked with local lighting designer Architecture & Light to employ two layers of LED luminaires: color-changing floodlights illuminate the garage structure serving as the armature and backdrop for the panels, while the metal scrim of folded panels, in more than 20 different sizes, is front-lit with white light.

Sophisticated controls send rhythms of light dancing across the undulating façades created by the artistic panel arrangement, while the overall lighting design meets dark-sky constraints and tight monetary and energy budgets. Though the Center Street parking garage’s primary occupants are vehicles, it is passersby who are transfixed. The city’s transportation manager, Farid Javandel, told a local media outlet, “From commuters, I’ve been hearing it is the best-looking new building in downtown Berkeley.”

Juror Quote
“The design concept is strong and gives this generic space type a great identity.” —Rachel Fitzgerald, senior lighting designer and associate, Stantec

Billy Hustace
On Addison Street, the new garage neighbors Berkeley Repertory Theatre and Freight and Salvage, a nonprofit music venue.

Billy Hustace
Color-changing LED floodlights illuminate the Center Street parking structure beyond, while the scrim is front-lit with white LEDs.

Robert P. Calderwood
Center Street facade at street level

Billy Hustace
Center Street facade at nightfall

Billy Hustace
Left: Perforated metal screens are illuminated from the front and back. Right: Looking up Center Street toward the University of California, Berkeley campus

Courtesy Architecture & Light
Full-scale mock-ups enabled testing of the facade assembly and lighting approaches.

Billy Hustace
Looking up Addison Street toward the University of California, Berkeley campus

Robert P. Calderwood
Addison Street facade at street level, Center Street parking garage

Details
Project Name: Center Street Parking Garage, Berkeley, Calif.
Client: City of Berkeley
Architect: Marcy Wong Donn Logan Architects, Berkeley • Donn Logan, Ryan Belliakoff
Architect of Record: International Parking Design, Oakland, Calif. • Raju Nandwana, Jan Leite
Lighting Designer: Architecture & Light, San Francisco • Darrell Hawthorne
Structural Engineer: KPFF Consulting Engineers
Mechanical and Plumbing Engineer: Taylor Engineering
Electrical Engineer: The Engineering Enterprise
Civil Engineer: BKF Engineers
Geotechnical Engineer: Rockridge Geotechnical
Construction Manager: KPM Consulting
General Contractor: C. Overaa & Co.
Landscape Architect/Planning: PlaceWorks
Project Manager: Conversion Management Associates
Traffic Engineer: Fehr & Peers
Sustainability: Brightworks Sustainability
Cost Estimating: Cumming
Photographer: Billy Hustace Photography, Robert P. Calderwood Architectural Photography
Project Size: 248,000 square feet
Project Cost: $37 million
Lighting Equipment Cost: $130,000
Watts per Square Foot: 0.2 (façade)
Code Compliance: 2013 California Title 24 Outdoor Lighting Section 140.7
Manufacturers: Ecosense, Acclaim Lighting, Erco, Philips Color Kinetics, Celestial Lighting, Acuity Brands Lighting/Gotham