Dallas Zoo South Garage

The Dallas Zoo South Garage is a simple building on a complex site, pairing an efficient layout with a visually dynamic façade to promote the Zoo’s mission and brand.

The 580-car, 4.5-level, 170,000 SF garage is located on an access challenged site along Ewing Avenue, bordered by the Dallas Zoo DART Station on Clarendon Drive, the Marsalis Avenue overpass, and a steep heavily wooded hill. The site is organized to facilitate safe and efficient operation of vehicles, maintain access to Zoo facilities beyond the Marsalis Avenue overpass, and improve pedestrian connection to the adjacent DART station.

As the first project in an ambitious multiphase masterplan (developed by CLR and GFF), the project paves the way for a reimagined guest arrival experience by relocating visitor parking to a previously underutilized site, enabling the Zoo’s existing parking lots to be transformed into a new entry plaza and ecological esplanade connecting to the adjacent I-35 deck park.

The precast concrete structure is wrapped in a combination of custom perforated metal panels and planted vertical trellises that give the building a playful and dynamic visual presence. The wire trellises support varied species of climbing vines to provide aesthetic variety from season to season. The metal panel system celebrates the Zoo’s brand identity with distinctive color and a giraffe pattern super graphic created through varied densities of perforation.

The project also supports the Zoo’s mission as an ecologically focused institution with design elements such as, rainwater capture for irrigation, drought tolerant low-maintenance native pollinator plant species, reuse of existing onsite materials, reduced impervious pavement, EV charging stations, infrastructure for a future photovoltaic array, site improvements that encourage use of the adjacent public transit, and a straightforward garage layout that reduces emissions from vehicle idling.

The end result is a compact and unique garage structure that promotes the Zoo’s brand and mission while paving the way for future development and an enhanced visitor experience.