Through parametric scripting and a deep material understanding, the design of the Gateway Plaza Façade transforms an unassuming parking structure into a symbolic gateway into the heart of Richmond, Virginia.
Offset by the monolithic tower it serves, the garage’s facade mediates the geometry of the tower it serves with the pedestrian scale at the ground. With the garage facade encompassing a large portion of the block, the design needed to resonate with the city, tenants, and act as a symbolic gateway to Richmond’s city center. The design reflects the movement and flow of the city’s defining landmark, the James River, along which the building sits. The ability to animate the building façade is also achieved with efficiency utilizing only three different perforated metal panels. Panels are bent to degrees of openness to accommodate required air flow and then carefully repeated into an abstract pattern wrapping the garage. The result is a dynamic textured surface that can be experienced from immediately below and as a larger graphic reading from a distance.
