1/16/2014

ParkingPLUS Prototype

ParkingPLUS

Utile was one of four firms selected through a national selection process to design an innovative parking structure for a Long Island downtown. Utile’s design – entitled “Civic Arches” – proposes a parking structure that is a robust and flexible piece of civic infrastructure. The prototype garage anticipates future non-parking uses with flat floor plates, a flexible column grid, and a stiffer and higher-capacity structural system. Utile’s full submission for the design challenge can be found here.

Utile looked at WPA-era infrastructure and architecture for inspiration (and has detailed these ideas in an entry in the Utile Design Blog). Utile tested the prototype on three sites in Rockville Centre to understand how the prototype could fit into the tight-knit context of a walkable downtown. The proposals by Utile, LTL, Roger Sherman Architecture and Urban Design, and DUB Studios, the other participating firms, were unveiled at a press conference in Garden City, Long Island, on January 16th. The design challenge was organized by the Long Island Index and its online publication, Build a Better Burb. The Long Island Index is a project of the Rauch Foundation.