Disneyland Parking Structure Escalator Canopies

2001 | Anaheim CA

Client Walt Disney Imagineering
Consulting Structural Engineer Guy Nordenson and Associates
Engineer of Record Walker Parking Consultants

The 10,250-car Disneyland Parking Structure was the first major project undertaken by the office at its inception in 1997. In 2000 GNA undertook the design and engineering of the parking structure’s steel and fabric exterior escalator canopies, which connect to the building at the fifth, third and second floors. Each canopy consists of a steel truss spanning clear from the face of the parking structure to a single post at ground level and cantilever at the ends. The trusses are three-dimensional, with a large central spine pipe bottom chord connected to the two smaller steel pipe top chords with small pipe ribs. The top chords support doubly curved arches that are the armature for the fabric membrane. The top ends of the trusses are attached to roller supports that allow the trusses to move independently of the parking structure in a seismic event. The three canopies were designed, fabricated, and erected in just six months to maintain the scheduled opening date of the parking structure.