Texas A&M University’s Polo Road Garage is a five-story parking garage and mixed-use facility on the north side of campus that includes a recreation center, office space for campus transportation services, and numerous dining vendors. The facility is centrally located on campus and adjacent to a popular, master-planned pedestrian corridor, so designs needed to create a dynamic sense of place while enhancing connection to others and the university.

M2L worked with architect PGAL to provide complementary design in accordance with strict campus standards for building materials, signage and branding, as well as other contextual details. In addition to the garage’s 1,200 covered parking spaces on five floors, the interior space encompasses 57,000 sq ft for a new recreation center, indoor dining and a campus transportation operations center. Just outside, a spacious covered dining area adjacent to dining vendors provides seating for more than 100, as well as additional seating for students to meet in small groups or study individually. Native plantings, complementary pavers and streetscapes finished the area, which serves equally well as a popular meeting place or as a point of departure for other campus activities.