Park & Ride facilities are one of the more common ways to practice a sustainable lifestyle, as they promote carpooling/mass transit, which in turn cuts down on vehicle emissions. Foothill (in City of Industry, California) took things even further by having a “green” parking structure designed and constructed. From bike racks, to lush landscaping, embedded plates for PV panels, and electric vehicle charging stations. Learn more about this beautiful project that our wonderful team made happen – Walker along with AHBE Landscape Architects, PENCO Engineering, Gotama Building Engineers, and TEECOM.
Foothill Transit, the primary public transit agency providing bus service for the San Gabriel and Pomona valleys, opened its first agency owned park & ride structure. The new park & ride structure provides a convenient connection hub for bus commuters traveling into Downtown Los Angeles – a huge bonus in a region where park & ride spaces are scarce.
The parking structure is a 5-level, post-tensioned concrete structure with 622 total parking stalls. Foothill Transit customers using the new state of the-art structure will enjoy 422 dedicated park & ride spaces, while the remaining parking spaces will be reserved for Metrolink riders. Foothill Transit buses stop just outside of the parking structure, directly adjacent to a stair and elevator lobby. There are also convenient bike racks, security cameras and emergency blue phones, energy efficient LED lighting throughout the structure, and eventually; 18 electric vehicle charging stations and rooftop solar panels.
The new parking structure, with its distinctive “kinked” shape, was designed to fit within the geometry of the existing surface parking lot. The parking structure has 2 bays with two-way 90 degree parking. Vehicles enter the parking structure on the east side of the structure and exit from the west side joining with the existing traffic flow through the surface parking lot. Long span construction with 18 foot column spacing was used to maximize construction efficiency and enhance the openness of the parking structure.
The exterior of the parking structure is painted concrete, mimicking tilt-up concrete buildings located throughout the area. Split-face masonry and metal canopies add texture and pedestrian scale to the project. Large custom metal signs in the shape of Foothill Transit’s logo adorn the top levels of the parking structure, identifying the building’s use.
Glass back elevator and open stairs with mesh panel guardrails provide further color and texture accents to the building’s mass. Six large concrete shearwalls provide a backdrop for landscaped green screens and two painted murals. The murals were commissioned in 2013 as part of a public arts initiative, was created to evoke the many days, seasons and colors of the San Gabriel and Pomona valleys.
The parking structure was constructed with embed plates at the roof level that will accommodate the future addition of a PV panel canopy structure. Electrical service and conduit infrastructure is also provided for the future installation of ground level electric vehicle charging stations and the rooftop solar panels.
For more information about this specific project and its sustainable elements, please contact Kevin Waters, AIA, LEED AP.