As civil engineering enters the 21st century, the demands on the profession will move toward complex, interdisciplinary tasks such as infrastructure rehabilitation, environmental cleanup, and the delivery of high-technology facilities (e.g., hospitals, RD particularly since conceptual design decisions determine a significant portion of a project's total cost. Axiomatic design is presented as a systematic framework for structural design because it aids the designer in satisfying multiple design objectives in a homogeneous manner throughout the design process. It is also an effective framework for formalizing and evaluating conceptual design decisions. The design of a structural frame for an innovative mechanical parking system is presented as an illustrative case study. This paper represents an initial effort to apply the principles of axiomatic design to the domain of civil engineering structures.