Case Study #5
JCMC Parking Garage

The Johnson City Medical Center Parking Garage and Connecter Bridge, located in Johnson City, Tennessee, is a new construction project that added vital parking spaces to replace previous spaces that were displaced by expansions. A standard parking garage can typically be a design challenge. This project was designed to be different than the standard.

The stair towers of the garage are the highlight of the design, featuring large fins that provide visual interest and impact to a large concrete structure. The towers have windows that span the entire exterior vertically, with a clerestory at the top that fills the stair with light. The exterior of the clerestory is flanked by the large scale metal fins, which are a unique design feature.

The architect for the project was Carl Walker, Inc., a firm specializing in innovative parking ideas and solutions. The large fins on the stair tower were detailed in aluminum with a clear anodized finish. The large size of the fins can be challenging to manufacture. The engineers at Hickman designed a solution to manufacture them in a way that would facilitate manufacturing and installation while keep the design intent intact.

“This project really showcased Hickman’s unique capabilities. We love this type of work,” expressed Tina Duncan, Hickman Engineer. “This project involved tapered column wraps made out of heavy gauge, 0.125” Aluminum. Originally, it was specified on the architectural details that the decorative aluminum covers be provided by the storefront manufacturer. But due to the complexity of these parts; tapered, heavy gauge, fabricated in four total parts per column with the overall total height of the columns being approximately 15’-0”, Hickman was awarded the project. With our expertise and special approach to custom products, we were able to fabricate these parts with minimal welding and thus no-oil canning effects.”

The general contractor for the project was Skanska USA Building, with Morristown Roofing Company, Inc. serving as the installing contractor for the Hickman products. SPEC Building Materials was the local Hickman representative.