Christopher Columbus Mixed-use Parking Garage
The Atlantic City Casino Reinvestment Development Authority built the Christopher Columbus Mixed-Use Parking Garage at the foot of the Atlantic City Expressway and within walking distance of “The Walk,” a premier urban retail and entertainment destination. The structure was specifically designed to make a positive impression for visitors traveling to and from Atlantic City as well as to provide a safe, functional and aesthetically pleasing experience for those who use it.
Covering 411,690 total square feet, “The Wave,” as it is also known, is a five-story building with six levels of parking, including 16,170 feet of retail space and 1,180 parking spaces.
Architectural Precast Innovations worked in two month-long phases preceding and following the poured-in-place concrete construction of the skin of the building by General Contractor L. Feriozzi of Atlantic City. In the first phase, which took place in January and February 2011, USPC Mid-Atlantic constructed and installed the structure’s three five-level stairwells, including stair towers, skirts and treads, as well as elevator towers.
According to Project Executive Jim Simpkins of Feriozzi Concrete, “The original plan was to have stairwells and spandrel panels constructed of cast-in-place concrete with brick veneer, but working together with Architectural Precast Innovations, we were able to develop appropriate value engineering proposals that allowed us to provide the owner with both cost and time savings.”
In the second phase, which took place in October and November 2011, Architectural Precast Innovations produced and installed exterior panels with standard thin brick laid in precast concrete, which was dyed a dark buff color and sandblasted. Those panels were interspersed with panels without brick inlay to reveal a wave pattern that corresponds with the overall design of the building when viewed from a distance. Portions of the exterior that featured full brick were hand laid by Masons on-site.
Architectural Precast Innovations manager Scott Rager comments, “Using precast was proposed as both a time and cost savings measure for this project and fell in line with what the client needed both in terms of schedule and cost. It was a win-win all around.”
The Wave Parking Garage and Mixed-Use Center was recognized with a Merit Award by the New Jersey chapter of the American Concrete Institute.