West Hollywood Automated Parking Garage

A modern parking garage combines technology, community art and energy efficiency

The five-story West Hollywood City Hall parking garage has been described as a “clean, green, parking machine.” The garage tripled the number of on-site parking spaces, while creating a model for an energy-efficient, sustainable facility.

The garage, which can move 100 cars per hour and cost about $1 million less than a traditional garage to build, uses an Automated Vehicle Storage and Retrieval System (AVSRS) designed by engineering firm Unitronics. The automated process helped reduce the garage’s footprint on the half-acre site by 40 percent, clearing the way for a 7,000-square-foot community plaza used for events and concerts.

The automated garage dramatically reduces CO2 emissions in the neighborhood. And the system reduces the need for ventilation and lighting, cutting the daily energy use of the structure, including materials made from recycled grocery bags.

About 50 percent of the facility’s energy requirement is supplied by an array of roof-mounted photovoltaic panels. And a robust stormwater system collects 100 percent of the runoff, which is treated, then filtered through a bio-treatment planter before it enters the storm drain system. Drought-resistant plants and a highly efficient sub-surface drip system, which irrigates 90 percent of the site, helps conserve water.