Noah Hillman Garage

Walker Consultants served as prime designer and structural engineer of record. The challenge was creating a cost-effective structure to meet historic district height restrictions and guidelines while having an architectural treatment that would integrate with the Annapolis style. Zoning allowed a tight envelope, which left a volumetric box with cleaner lines than the previous garage, giving some flexibility in creating an architectural façade. The goal was to create a façade to invite pedestrian interaction and allow the ground floor to function as a farmer’s market for the city. The concept also helped to satisfy the openness requirements of the building code for ventilation and fire protection.

The architectural design was shaped through on-going interactions with downtown businesses, downtown residents, and the community at large, which all embraced the architecturally-sensitive design of the garage. The architect designed a brick portal system to help break down the scale to pedestrian-friendly intervals. Brick was selected with qualities to complement the existing buildings around the site and masonry details that blend with the historic character of Annapolis. Punched window openings in the brick façades also help to ease the scale of the relatively large building. The spaces between the brick portals were treated with a vertical slat system to help keep the desired openness but to obscure the direct views of the concrete structure. These slats also help reduce stray light from headlights in the evening.