This proposed parking facility serves as a monumental urban marker, and denotes arrival to the city of Chicago. The building is taller than its program would normally suggest, 180' at its highest, its scale relating both to the expressway and the buildings around it.

The street level has a passenger terminal, three bus lanes, a planted plaza, and a 2000 square foot outdoor stage. Visitors arrive from the parking levels into the terminal by stairs or a bank of three elevators, with a waiting room that contains an information kiosk and a retail area.

The facility provides parking for 1200 total vehicles, 200 on each of six parking levels. Cars enter off of the Expressway bridges, into a double helical ramp to the first parking level, and then climb straight ramps to every level above that.

The building has six parking levels above the street level, each of which is slightly sloped in relationship to each other (see section). While each parking deck is cast concrete, with a reinforced concrete frame for support, the underside of the decks are sheathed in colored reflective metal panels. The parking areas are set back 15' from the deck edges, allowing the profile of the deck to be seen as a thin, expressive edge.

Credits: Architect and Designer: Aaron McDonald.

Assistant: Tomoko Suzuki.

2003 Chicago Prize Stop Go Chicago Portal Project
all material copyright 2003 aaron mcdonald architect unless noted all rights reserved

Aaron McDonald Architect, 1 Union Square 903, New York, New York 10003