Client

Norfolk Airport Authority

Location

Norfolk, VA

Expertise

Aviation

Services

Architecture, Experiential Design and Wayfinding, Site Development

To best serve the needs of travelers, employees and other guests, Norfolk International Airport (ORF) needed to not only provide additional parking space, but also create better connectivity to the terminal. Gresham Smith’s team of architects and wayfinding experts developed an innovative design for the 1.1 million-square-foot Parking Garage D, replacing an existing surface parking lot, consolidating rental car operations and eliminating the need for satellite employee parking and associated staff shuttle trips.

9
levels
3,200
square feet
1.1M
square feet

The exterior of the garage is comprised of architectural precast panels, which are cohesive with the existing campus aesthetic. The garage itself is made of cast-in-place concrete—42,000 cubic yards, with 2,600 tons of rebar—which provides unobstructed sightlines for enhanced wayfinding. The glass stairwells, which are completely open on the interior, also help with navigation and give patrons a sense of security. Additionally, the garage’s white ceiling creates a clean, modern, well-illuminated experience, while real-time total space counts and a double-threaded helix circular ramp gives drivers easy access to each of the garage’s six levels.