Westbrook Municipal Garage

Westbrook, Maine|540 stalls

Can a Garage be beautiful? Aesthetically, yes -  especially when considering context and making the most of a precast vocabulary. Located along the Presumpscot River in Westbrook, Maine, the Municipal Parking Structure transitions you from a residential neighborhood to a seven-story office building. The very horizontal nature of the precast spandrels are offset by locating the columns to the outside and by showcasing the building’s vertical circulation; its mass colored dark gray as backdrop.

The building “functions” as parking for the adjacent office building, but it “aspires” to facilitate use of the riverfront by the citizens of Westbrook. A coordinated approach between site and architecture includes pedestrian plazas and a boardwalk along the river. The true beauty of this building will be inherent in its accessibility for the people of Westbrook to engage the water and by inspiring, through its vehicular circulation, the reintroduction of the river into the life of the City’s commercial and public center through pedestrian circulation.