The engineers and designers behind the Tutwiler parking deck, the $25 million seven-floor structure towering over 12th Street, are standouts in the industry. 

The team behind the project received a top award in the Precast/Prestressed Concrete Institute’s (PCI) 2021 Design Awards, winning in the “Façade Only Parking Structure” category. 

The PCI employs industry experts like engineers and architects to judge nominations from across the country. 

According to PCI spokesman Tom Bagsarian, the Institute has “recognized the creative and innovative use of precast concrete” since the Design Awards program’s foundation in 1963. Judges award projects based on aesthetic, hazard protection, durability and operational efficiency. 

The parking deck was constructed in 2018 amidst plans to demolish Tutwiler, a double-occupancy women’s residence hall named for prison and education reform advocate Julia Tutwiler. The building has been a mainstay on the University’s campus for more than 50 years. 

New Tutwiler Hall will be located on the corner of 10th Avenue and 12th Street and is set to open by August 2022. The University plans to demolish Tutwiler once the new residence hall opens.

The parking deck’s construction cost the University about $26 million, funded entirely by 2017 general revenue bonds. The Tutwiler residence hall replacement project cost the University $145 million. The funds for the project came from general revenue bonds, as well as reserves from housing and residential communities (HRC), UA food services and the University.

The parking deck was constructed by Gate Precast Company, and its architect was Evan Terry Associates.

Neil King, the president and chief operating officer of Evan Terry Associates, said the project was completed within four months, with a month to spare before the start of the Fall 2018 semester. 

“The inherent efficiency and rapid installation of precast concrete was vital in helping us to meet, or even exceed, the University’s expectations,” King said.  

The PCI awarded the project based on its aesthetic that “seamlessly” matched the design around the rest of campus and its use of cost-effective and resilient material. 

“Choosing precast concrete allowed them to achieve the strict design goals with a cost-effective, extremely durable, and low-maintenance product,” the PCI wrote.

All of this year’s winning projects will be showcased at the 2021 PCI Convention in New Orleans on May 21, and in PCI-related publications.