Best Parking Structure Over 500 Spaces
Description
The San Antonio Zoo Parking Garage is a high-profile structure visible from the heavily traveled Highway 281 which runs through the heart of San Antonio.
From the early stages of design, Manco Structures worked closely with Alamo Architects and Guido Construction to design this 2-bay, 5 story, split-level precast parking garage. It includes over 165,000 square feet of parking accommodating 600 spaces for those visiting the San Antonio Zoo, Brackenridge Park, Alamo Stadium, and other area venues.
Project timeline
In 2017, residents of the City of San Antonio elected to fund capital improvements to various municipal projects including the San Antonio Zoo. Once approved, several local design/build teams went to work preparing design proposals, cost analysis, and team qualifications.
Manco Structures worked closely with each perspective team assisting them with unique confidential design criteria, logistics modeling, and budgets. In the Spring of 2020, the San Antonio Zoo Parking Garage opened its doors to animal lovers all over the world.
Key design features
With the anticipation of mounting large Artwork and green screens on the garage exterior, the precast spandrels and wall panels were designed to withstand extraordinary loading imposed by these post-applied features.
The natural grade differential of 16 ft. from one bay to the other within the garage footprint posed unique ramping conditions with the need to create two separate entrances at different elevations.
Innovations using precast concrete
The architects goal, under the direction of Zoo executives, was to design a garage with a natural appearance to blend with the Zoo’s ecological motif. This was accomplished by introducing images of tall giraffes, a giant tiger and multiple monarch butterflies along with an abundance of greenery around the structure. These features are all highlighted with nighttime lighting. In all, this parking structure contains over 480 precast components.
Needless to say, the client was very pleased with the outcome, the President and CEO of the zoo tweeted “It may be the nicest looking parking garage on the planet.” This facade serves as a giant billboard for the iconic, 105-year-old San Antonio Zoo, ushering guests into the zoo through this precast garage that is as festive and colorful as the beautiful city of San Antonio itself!
Precast concrete components
The parking structure contains over 480 precast components consisting of double tees, columns, inverted tee beams, spandrels, and wall panels.
- Precast Manufacturer: Manco Structure – Schertz, Texas
- Precast Engineer: The Consulting Engineer Group – San Antonio, Texas
- Architect: Alamo Architects – San Antonio, Texas
- General Contractor: Guido Construction – San Antonio, Texas
- Structural Engineer of Record: Datum Engineers – San Antonio, Texas
- Owner: San Antonio Zoo – San Antonio, Texas
