7th & Grand Parking Facility and Skywalk

Located in the heart of downtown Des Moines, IA the 7th and Grand Parking Facility provides parking to the tenants and visitors of an adjacent office tower and also connects to both a public and private skywalk system. This post-tensioned concrete structure consists of six floors of parking, two stair towers, two skywalks, and surface-level retail.

From the early stages of development, Substance Architecture worked closely with corporate stakeholders and City representatives to ensure the facility's design would meet the needs of the corporate owner while bolstering the City's walkability goals and seamlessly integrating into the urban fabric.

The solution gracefully and safely accommodates a complex circulation system of people and automobiles. Internally, the sloping parking decks provide parking for 620 vehicles. Skywalks are located along the exterior perimeter of the structure, allowing connections to and between public and private skywalks at differing elevations while also providing a visual screen from the outside. The design integrates transparent, glass stair towers at strategic site corners which serve as intuitive navigation aids and emphasize the vertical connectivity between retail, sidewalks, and skywalk concourses.