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`Elegant' garage honored Photo by Jim Craven Medford's parking garage has won an award from the American Institute of Architects for its "modernist elegance" and for creativity in a utilitarian building. Downtown Medford structure is one snazzy place to park By BILL KETTLER Medford's parking garage has put the city on the map -- at least among architects. A panel of San Francisco architects has named Medford's downtown parking structure a winner in the annual "Best of Bay and Beyond" competition. "We've been getting calls from all over the country," said Medford architect Gene Abell. The Abell Architectural Group worked on the garage with San Francisco architects Sam Nunes and Pauline Souza of Gordon H. Chong and Partners. "It's a pretty prestigious award for us," Nunes said. "There were more than 120 entries, and nine projects won." The competition is sponsored by the San Francisco Examiner magazine and the American Institute of Architects to recognize the best work of San Francisco-area architects. "Some years the winners have come from as far off as Chile," said Zahir Sardar, the Examiner's architecture and design editor. ``This year we got as far as Medford." Sardar praised the garage's "modernist elegance" in the Examiner's Feb. 13 feature story on the winners. "Structural planes form the basis of the design," he wrote. "Concrete floor slabs extend into canopies, shear walls are pulled to the exterior to anchor stairs and mark entry points. And columns and beams visible through steel screens that contrast with the brick exterior help to animate the building round the clock." Medford architect Abell said the design reflects the ideas and concerns that local residents expressed in pre-construction public meetings. "We invited people in to give them a sense of ownership of the design," he said. Ceilings were built higher than most city parking garages, for example, to provide easy access for tall four-wheel drive vehicles and to create an open feeling. "You've got to be able to drive your F-250 4-by-4 pickup in there," he said, "or it's not going to be used." Nunes said the architects who reviewed the entries were impressed by Medford's willingness to try a creative approach for a utilitarian building. "I'm almost certain that a parking garage has never won Best of Bay and Beyond," he said. Nunes said Medford's parking garage reflects an emerging sense among architects that parking structures can be attractive. "For years," he said, "garages have been seen as necessary evils. "People have been afraid of parking structures, because the only ones they know are at airports, and they were scary structures.'' He said Medford's garage blends into the downtown because it incorporates materials and building styles seen in nearby structures. The parking garage is the first of four proposed for downtown Medford. Providing more downtown parking is a key goal of Medford's urban renewal program. "As cities revitalize," he said, "they have to provide convenient parking downtown to lure customers and future private development." Today's Edition : News | Sports | Business | Weather | Tempo | Classifieds Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 2000, Medford, Oregon USA