University of Florida SW Parking Garage and Transportation + Parking Offices

The first LEED Gold university garage in the nation, this award-winning, 946-car parking structure and two-story transportation and parking services office building earned a spot at the the National Building Museum’s House of Cars exhibit in Washington, D.C.

Positioned at an angle to the site, the triangular structure couples high density with a pedestrian-friendly curbside presence. The office portion faces the street with the garage structure located behind. The precast and brick parking structure is six levels and 313,000 square feet tall.

Applied on the face of the garage, the 10,000-square-foot office component features visually appealing elements including an angled, two-story, cement-faced atrium placed against the six-story contrasting brick-faced elevator and stairway tower. Awash in natural light, the inside is optimally laid out with an open, two-story volume and a 48-foot counter that accommodates a high volume of student activity on the ground level. The top floor includes additional administrative and conference space. To create an airy, inviting environment, PGAL selected a cool color palette for walls, carpeting, and furnishings. Materials are eco-friendly, including carpet tiles, 3form decorative panels, recycled flax and sealed concrete flooring, linear fluorescent light fixtures, and recessed lighting.

All offices are spacious and programmed to meet individual requirements for executive administrative and support staff. Each office is finished with carpet floor tiles, painted walls, and suspended acoustical ceiling systems of recycled and low-VOC content. The offices include large, clear-insulated windows to capture the natural light and allow visibility to the outside and the atrium in the customer service area. Motorized and manual window shades protect against heat gain and solar glare. Large glass sidelights and overhead transoms create an open environment, but solid wood doors throughout the facility can be closed for privacy. Each office has individual climate controls, lay-in ceiling fixtures, and task lighting to reduce energy consumption.

In the large conference room, a curved floor-to-ceiling translucent wall framed in clear aluminum provides connectivity to the lobby. Ceilings are constructed of painted hard surfaces with a recessed soffit and illuminated by recessed down lights and linear pendant fixtures over the conference table. Power, data, and a dynamic monitoring display meet today’s technology and information standards.