Designing a Parking Deck Is Harder Than It Looks.
WHEN YOU’RE IN a parking structure, trying to squeeze into a spot between a misaligned Escalade and a rust-eaten Escort, it’s hard to appreciate the level of consideration that goes into these seemingly crude edifices. But parking decks are veritable Vulcan 3-D chess matches rendered in concrete. Building codes and traffic-engineering norms govern every detail—from ramp slopes to how the spaces are arranged— and are frequently in conflict with budgets and the desire to maximize vehicle capacity, traffic flow, safety, and aesthetics. Here’s what designers face:
RULES There are reasons you don’t see many highly stylized parking structures around. Local zoning laws, building codes, and traffic engineering guidelines all inform and restrict the designer’s imagination.
This story is from the May 2019 edition of Car and Driver.
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This story is from the May 2019 edition of Car and Driver.
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