A three-storey parking garage with a single basement level has been proposed for the site of a former Royal Canadian Legion in Victoria’s Burnside-Gorge neighbourhood, but it won’t be for public use.

 

A consortium of Victoria-based automotive dealerships has envisioned a 63,250 square foot parkade at 750-780 Summit Avenue at Nanaimo Street for a vehicle storage facility catering to many brands with showrooms along the Douglas Street corridor and throughout the Capital.

 

 

The proposal is described by project architect Brian Kapuscinski of BJK Architecture as a secure vehicle storage facility that will restrict access to ‘car jockeys.’ A series of metal-screen panels will animate the otherwise utilitarian concrete pre-fabricated façades. The corner of the building on Summit Avenue at Nanaimo Street will be rounded with a green wall element to ‘soften’ the transition between the building’s façades and present an architectural focal point.

 

A public art component is also planned for the structure’s western face. Rising to three-storeys, the installation will be exposed to a surface parking lot adjacent to the development site. A tentative design features an image of a vehicle shrouded in mist.

 

An architectural vision for three-storey parking garage proposed for 750-780 Summit Avenue.  BJK Architecture

 

Although no vehicle capacity estimates have been provided, the scale of the building implies several hundred autos will be accommodated, and the use of a car elevator in lieu of ramps will provide more vehicle storage space than possible at a traditional garage.

 

Outside of the building’s interior, no parking stalls will be accommodated on the property, although 11 bicycle stalls will be included.

 

The parkade will not utilize any heating or energy use above the basement level apart from lighting when vehicles are being parked or retrieved, and to power the elevator and exhaust fans. Rooftop ‘solar collectors’ will supplement the energy needs to illuminate the basement level and provide ventilation.

 

With the proposal making its way through the municipal process, approvals, should they be granted, are expected in 2020.

 

The project is one of two parkade investments by private interests in the Capital Region. Adjacent to the Carson Group Ford, Jaguar and Range Rover dealerships on north Douglas Street in Saanich, an expansion of a vehicle parking facility is also moving through the permitting process. The additional spaces will not be for public use. C

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