Villanova University in Radnor Township, Pennsylvania, had a master plan to transform the landscape of its campus. Two large parking lots would be replaced with a performing arts center, new residence halls, retail stores, a pedestrian bridge, and a five-level parking garage. Parking was a necessity, but the project’s owner had two distinct end goals for the garage that would replace a surface lot: feel like it was part of the campus it would serve and be completed within a rigid timeframe to enable a carefully timed construction schedule for the other structures.
To achieve this goal, the team was tasked with reproducing the university’s historic collegiate gothic aesthetic on the exterior of the precast Villanova Pike Field Parking Garage following its erection.
Keeping a Historic Campus True to Form with Precast
To keep Villanova University’s historic campus true to its existing form, the Villanova Pike Field Parking Garage was designed to feature vertical columns with horizontal spandrels, horizontal wall panels with punched openings, and precast detailing on arched doorways and windows.
See how precast concrete enabled a five-level, open-structure garage that fit in with existing buildings and reproduced the university’s gothic appearance in a free case study from the PCI Mid-Atlantic Chapter.
What’s Inside:
- The project’s key details, including the scope, timeline, and team members
- The strategy used to reproduce the university’s historic collegiate gothic aesthetic
- The results and how precast concrete’s design versatility benefitted outcomes
Visitors walking from the athletic field see a variety of shapes and materials that come together in interesting ways, disguising both the functional nature and size of the building. The garage plays well visually with its neighbors, meets dark sky requirements, and features an open design for natural ventilation.
Download the case study to see how the use of precast accelerated project timelines and enabled the team to recreate the university’s aesthetic with an end result that was historically compatible with existing structures.
Achieve More with Precast
By utilizing innovative and unique precast concrete solutions, experienced industry professionals like the Villanova University Pike Field Parking Garage team completed the project with swift, skillful execution. Not only did the team provide increased parking capacity the owner, Villanova University students, and the public could enjoy, they also did so in just six months so that construction on student housing could begin.
