Library District Parking Garage Kansas City, Missouri
This unique, award-winning parking facility makes quite an impression on visitors to downtown Kansas City, Mo. Giant book spines tower over pedestrians, stretching toward the sky, while oversized concrete books provide places to sit and read.
SEA provided structural engineering design and precast services for this $6.4 million parking structure. The 30-foot tall "bookshelf" is formed with a series of vertical precast concrete panels curved like book spines. Graphics depicting the spines of classic literary works such as "O Pioneers" and "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" cover the panels.
On the south side of the garage, a plaza area includes benches and staircases shaped like books. Precast concrete was also used for these features, as well as the glass-enclosed staircases housed on either end of the garage.
This 158,400 square foot structure provides 500 parking spaces for library visitors, local residents and downtown workers.
The Library District Parking Garage won a Category V Award of Excellence in the 2005 International Parking Awards and Best Parking
Garage in the 2005
Precast/Prestressed Concrete Institute Design Awards.
