A brick-and-mortar Cinderella story, a former 1960s era, municipal parking garage in downtown Tacoma, Washington underwent a comprehensive renovation and reconstruction, emerging as the new Pacific Plaza mixed-use complex. The project was completed as a public-private partnership between commercial development interests and the City of Tacoma.
The monolithic parking garage was updated structurally, seismically and aesthetically, and an additional floor of parking and 60,000 square feet of Class A office space across two floors were added to the existing structure.
The design also provided 30,000 square feet of street level retail space along Pacific Avenue, downtown Tacoma’s primary arterial.
Pacific Plaza was the first green building of its kind in the City of Tacoma and Pierce County and was one of only 19 LEED Platinum-certified core and shell projects worldwide when it was completed. Sustainable elements were infused throughout the building’s design and construction, embodying the owner and design team’s commitment to environmental stewardship and energy-efficiency.
Interior daylighting, natural ventilation, a high performance building envelope and mechanical system, high-efficiency lighting and water efficient plumbing fixtures are just some of the sustainable design elements that contribute to Pacific Plaza’s energy efficiency.
Pacific Plaza’s signature attribute is arguably its 30,000 square-foot green roof. It absorbs 65-85% of the rainwater that falls on its surface, naturally filtering impurities from excess run-off that would otherwise wash into the nearby Thea Foss Waterway, one of Tacoma’s most fragile marine ecosystems.
Boasting a colorful history as the last remnant of a Turkish bath, an existing subterranean cistern was repurposed to collect rainwater runoff from the green roof which is recycled back to the roof for year-round irrigation, keeping the rooftop meadow in continuous seasonal bloom.