To overcome a parking shortage in downtown Palo Alto and provide a better quality parking experience for downtown visitors and merchants, the City asked Watry Design to design a parking structure at the corner of Hamilton Avenue and Waverley.
Watry Design partnered with The Hayes Group, a designer with rich ties to Palo Alto, to develop an architectural design that would celebrate the City’s local character. The 266-stall garage will be clad with perforated metal panels and feature sunshades made from aluminum fins. A shear wall facing Hamilton Avenue is being designed to showcase a public art installation, and a grand stairwell will connect downtown visitors with a main thoroughfare. The roof will incorporate solar panels.
The primary pedestrian circulation core creates a hub with a new paseo that will feature landscaping, festoon lighting and green walls, with a direct connection to a public plaza. Other improvements include improved safety at a street crossing and expanding the pedestrian streetscape along both Hamilton and Waverley streets.
In addition to adding much needed parking, the project also supports an initiative to provide more accessible, low-cost housing in the City. After studying multiple configurations for incorporating future housing on the site, the City opted to reserve space adjacent to the garage footprint. In the interim, the space will be used as an urban garden plaza to activate the street front and provide community open space.
In order to accommodate the future use, Watry Design collaborated with developers to ensure utility and space connections being designed for the parking structure were compatible with residential development. Until the development moves forward, the site will serve as a public plaza. Care is being taken to ensure the plaza provides an engaging interim space.
Project Details
- Owner: City of Palo Alto
- Design Architect: The Hayes Group
- Project Status: Schematic Design
- Parking Stalls: 266
- Levels: 6
- Total Sq Ft: 116,450
- Sq Ft per Stall: 438
