Proj Overview

PROJECT OVERVIEW

Monument Drive Parking Garage and Transit Center is a new commuter parking structure located in Fairfax County, Va., just west of Washington, D.C. Designed by HGA and Walker Consultants and constructed by Howard Shockey & Sons with precast concrete manufactured by Metromont, the eight-level, 262,000-square-foot facility has room for 820 vehicles. In addition to free parking for commuters, the facility supports buses, rideshare, bicycles, and a green roof.

Fairfax County was willing to be creative for this high-profile, multimodal parking structure. Visible on all four sides, the prominent site serves as the gateway to the Fairfax County government center and is strategically located for commuters to the District of Columbia.

Read more about this project in the Summer 2025 issue of Ascent.

PRECAST SOLUTION

Fairfax County often selects precast concrete for their parking facilities for its familiarity, inherent durability, cost effectiveness, and speed of construction. The parking structure layout is a single helix that is repetitive and user-friendly with flat parking. For a parking layout and circulation system that relies on 90-degree parking with two-way traffic, “precast makes all the sense in the world,” the architect said.

 

Project Team

Architect

HGA Architects & Engineers

Owner

Fairfax County

Contractor

Howard Shockey & Sons

Engineer

Walker Consultants

Precast Concrete Producer

Metromont

Photo Credit

Kate Wichlinski Photography Inc.

Key Project Attributes

  • The exterior is a departure from a utilitarian transit center.
  • The first level of the structure supports “slugging” with lay-by lanes for vehicle queues. Slugging is a form of casual carpooling in the Washington, D.C., metro region that matches single-occupancy vehicles with potential rideshare partners.
  • Entrances and configurations affect how a parking structure is used. The tight site, street access, and the need to accommodate bus movements all had an impact on the layout and orientation of the structure.

Project/Precast Scope

  • Precast concrete spandrels are dark gray in color with an acid-etched finish.
  • The precast concrete design also had to accommodate seismic joints, which were hidden as much as possible.
  • The precast concrete producer cast embed plates in the precast concrete spandrels to support a steel frame