Poindexter Building Renovation and Garage

The Poindexter Building and Parking Structure is a renovated office building in the heart of Downtown Kansas City, Missouri. The 9-level pre-cast parking structure has 1,000 spaces and features a brick exterior and extensive streetscape amenities, including retail space, fountain and plaza.

The design team chose to move the entrance lobby to the building a half-story below-grade to meet ADA requirements. This allowed for a sunken entry court that provides easy approaches to the lobby, offers a landscaped outdoor terraced ‘foyer,’ and is a popular employee-gathering place. It is also a green gesture to the city and the public.

Where Central Street’s ‘Avenue of the Arts’ terminates, a court was carved out, recognizing this termination and providing an urban pedestrian retreat with landscaping and a fountain. The largely transparent stair and elevator towers, the streetside court and the narrow shop inserted into one outside parking bay all give this garage a friendliness uncommon in a parking structure this large.

This seven-level garage (five levels above-grade) was designed to serve as an important part of the landscape while complementing the Poindexter Building. Every attempt was made to create a facility that would be more than just another garage, one that would truly be a welcome addition to downtown. Vertical columns, heavy sills and intricate detailing all suggest a modern structure but one that is still respectful of nearby historic neighbors, such as the Savoy Hotel building.