“Coming to the table with no preconceived ideas helped make innovation happen.”
Its pronounced entrances resemble portals that invite you to enter the heart of the construction, inside which it can efficiently house up to 1,130 vehicles. Thus, pedestrians and drivers, divided by a walkway, are led to the different levels of the garage, each one defined by a theme and identifying the color of each of the Los Angeles sports teams.
The patio is also encompassed by three illuminated glass segments that show the image of some sports icons, visible from the play area for the employees' children. As a final touch, the LA Garage provides bikes that make it easy to connect the various areas of Nike's main industrial complex.
“The concept was that rather than having a large, massive structure, we'd start to pull the structure apart into smaller scale buildings to create opportunities to penetrate the building with natural light. Doing so created all these great spaces in between. We brainstormed to find ways and moments where we could break down the scale of the building and focus on the whole aspect of movement and experience...to create something special. That opened the building up to functioning as a venue for special events, a way to create spaces that they don't have on campus right now. The result is a place where you can have hundreds of people meet, gather, and celebrate. It's an added value that the parking structure brings to the campus at a larger scale.”
Description of project by SRG Partnership
As the place in which the transition from driver to pedestrian occurs, the 409,000-square-foot LA Garage is a nexus of activity for people arriving on campus. The design breaks up the typical parking structure mass, providing opportunities for daylight and creating a “wow” space in between: a public covered courtyard carved into the center of the building that encourages chance encounters, casual gatherings and collaboration. Surrounded by three sides of backlit glass showing iconic Olympic athletes, the courtyard faces the campus daycare center. Employees and their children can experience playful elements incorporated into the design such as a slide into the courtyard, rubberized pyramids, a balance beam and a running track. Furthermore, bikes are provided in the courtyard to easily connect people in the space to the campus.
The LA Garage neither looks nor feels like a garage. Embodying the movement theme which is key to the client’s design culture, exterior walls are canted and tilted at an angle to give the elaborate building skin of perforated metal panel and glass a dynamic quality while concealing the cars within. Aligning the panels in a pattern along a diagonal grid creates a sense of leaning, making the building appear ready to spring forward. Layering of the façade elements provides both natural ventilation and adds to the garage’s dynamism. The theme of movement also inspired the site design, which integrates sports and functional program elements that celebrate interaction, activity, fitness and a healthy lifestyle.
Wayfinding is expressed in orange circulation elements for cars and people which reference the external orange massing reveals. Pronounced entrances act like portals to create a holistic experience of entering, circulating and exiting the garage. Maximizing this space housing 1,130 cars with safety and efficiency, walkways separate pedestrians from drivers and guide those on foot to the courtyard. Each level is themed with super-graphics and colors for a different Los Angeles sports team, reinforcing the overall concept and making wayfinding an easier and more memorable experience.
