Hasta La Ideas

This multi-storey car park for Copenhagen by local firm JAJA Architects will feature a plant-covered facade to hide the cars inside and grand external staircases leading to a landscaped park on the roof (+ slideshow).

The Park ‘n’ Play car park concept by JAJA Architects won a competition organised by the Copenhagen Port and City Development for a site in the emerging Nordhavn area. It will provide locals and visitors with a new public plaza and play area.

“This project is based on a standard, pre-defined concrete structure,” said the architects. “As a second layer, our proposal becomes the active filter on top of a generic, multi-level car park.”

The car park’s functional concrete frame is used as the basis for a staggered pattern of planting boxes that wrap around the building and contain greenery to shield the parking spaces from view.

“Instead of concealing the parking structure, we propose a concept that enhances the beauty of the structural grid while breaking up the scale of the massive facade,” the architects explained.

Many of the harbour buildings in the former port region are constructed from red brick, so the architects specified that the car park should be built from concrete that has been tinted a similar shade.

Influenced by the staircases on the outside of the iconic Centre Pompidou in Paris, stairs rise from the ground floor across the long sections on the north and south sides of the car park.

The walls behind these staircases will be decorated with a frieze created by Copenhagen visual designers RAMA Studio, which will depict the area’s industrial history.

A handrail will follow the staircase as it ascends across the facade and then continue when it reaches the roof, transforming into an architectural feature that unites the various leisure spaces and play areas.

“From street level, the railing literally takes the visitors by the hand, inviting them on a trip to the rooftop landscape and amazing view of the Copenhagen harbour,” said the architects.

As well as connecting playgrounds featuring swings and climbing structures, the rooftop railing will incorporate fences and plants to help provide sheltered spaces for relaxing.

Construction is due to begin later this year, becoming the latest in a string of unusual car parks around the world. Examples include a car park in Bordeaux with housing on its roof, another in Austria with colourful parking spaces surrounded by criss-crossing concrete columns, and Herzog & de Meuron’s multipurpose car park building in Miami.

Here’s a project description from JAJA Architects:

Park ‘n’ Play

Parking houses should be an integral part of the city. But how can we challenge the mono-functional use of the conventional parking house? How do we create a functional parking structure, which is also an attractive public space? And how do we create a large parking house that respects the scale, history and future urban culture of the new development area Nordhavn in Copenhagen?

The site

The new parking house will be situated in Århusgadekvarteret, which is the first phase of a major development plan for Nordhavn. It is currently under development and will in the near future host a mix of new and existing buildings. Today, the area is known as the Red Neighbourhood because of the historical and characteristic red brick harbour buildings. The future development will build upon this historical trait and merge existing characteristics into new interpretations.

The project

The starting point for the competition project was a conventional parking house structure. The task was to create an attractive green façade and a concept that would encourage people to use the rooftop. Instead of concealing the parking structure, we propose a concept that enhances the beauty of the structural grid while breaking up the scale of the massive façade. A system of plant boxes is placed in a rhythm relating to the grid, which introduces a new scale while also distributing the greenery across the entire façade.

The grid of plant boxes on the facade is then penetrated by two large public stairs, which have a continuous railing that becomes a fantastic playground on the rooftop. From being a mere railing it transforms to becoming swings, ball cages, jungle gyms and more. From street level, the railing literally takes the visitors by the hand; invite them on a trip to the rooftop landscape and amazing view of the Copenhagen Harbour.

Structure

This project is based on a standard, pre-defined concrete structure. As a second layer, our proposal becomes the active filter on top of a generic, multi level car park. The structure has a rational and industrial crudeness, which suits the area’s spirit and history; however, the traditional concrete parking structure can appear cold and hard. As a natural continuation of the area’s red brick identity, we propose a red colouring of the concrete structure. With this simple measure, the grey frame is transformed into a unique building structure, which radiates warmth and intimacy through its materiality and surface, in harmony with the surroundings that are dominated by red roof tiles and bricks.

The green façade

The building will be a large volume in a compact, urban setting, and because of its proximity to the surrounding urban spaces, the parking house will predominately be seen from close-up. To provide scale to the large building, we propose planted façades where a green structure interacts with the building behind. The green façade is made up of a plant “shelving system”, which emphasises the parking structure and interacts with the rhythm of columns behind. Plant boxes introduce scale and depth, and provide rhythm to the façade.

The placement of plant boxes follows the grid of the parking house, and there is a box placed in a staggered rhythm for every second column, in the full height of the building. The system of plant boxes brings depth and dynamic to the façade, while also matching the neighbouring buildings’ proportions and detailing. The plant structure covers all four façades, and provides coherence and identity to the whole building. The green façade is planned into a time perspective, to provide for the quickest possible plant growth against the tinted concrete. The expression of the façades is based on an interaction between structure and nature, the structural vs. the organic, and provides an exciting interdependence between the two.

The staircase and the roof

The basic principle of an active parking house is the idea of an accessible and recreational roof offered to local inhabitants and visitors alike. Visibility and accessibility are therefore essential when creating a living roof. A staircase towards the open square provides a diagonal connection between street and roof level, and invites people to ascend along the façade. The course of the staircase follows the building’s structural rhythm, and each landing provides a view across the surrounding urban spaces and at the top, a view to the roofs of Copenhagen.

The staircase has references to Centre Pompidou, where the movement along the façade is an experience in itself. Along the back wall of the staircase, we work with our friends at RAMA Studio to create a graphical frieze, which, in an abstract, figurative form conveys the history of the area. The narrative can be seen from street level, and followed more closely when the visitor ascends along the staircase. Along here, we also establish alternative access points to the parking levels. The frieze tells a story of past and future, and becomes a modern tale of the area’s industrial history and its future as Copenhagen’s new development by the harbour. The two flights of stairs on the Northern and Southern façades stand out as vertical passages through the greenery, and clearly mark the connection between street level and the active roof.

The red thread

The red thread is a physical guide through the parking structure’s public spaces, which leads the visitor from street level, where the guide is introduced as a handrail on the staircase. As a sculptural guide it almost literally takes the visitor by the hand, and leads along the stairs to the top and through the activity landscape on the roof. Here, it becomes a sculpture and offers experiences, resting spaces, play areas and spatial diversity. Activities along the red thread could be traditional such as swings, climbing sculptures etc., but also more architectural elements such as fencing and plants, which can emphasise or establish spaces while providing shelter from the weather.

The elevated activity sculpture above the roof provides great flexibility, and makes the exciting activities visible from street level. The sculpture’s journey across the roof continues uninterrupted, before leading back along the second staircase towards the street. Combined the stairs through the green façade and the active roof make up a living, urban landscape that invites for both rest, fun and excitement.

As such the structure becomes a red thread through the project, and connects the façade, the stairs and the activities on the roof as one single element. Copenhagen’s new parking house will be a social meeting ground and an active part of its local environment – as an urban bonus for locals, athletes and visitors alike.

Project description: Park ‘n’ Play
Program: parking structure
Architect: JAJA Architects, Copenhagen
Client: Copenhagen Port & City Development
Year: 2014 (completion 2015)
Size: +20.000M2

The post Pompidou-inspired car park by JAJA Architects
to feature planted facade and rooftop park appeared first on Dezeen.

Criss-crossing concrete columns surround this colourful multi-storey car park by Austrian studio Kleboth Lindinger Dollnig for the classical music venues of Erl, Austria (+ slideshow).

The three-storey structure is the latest addition to the Tyrolean Festival site, which features a 1950s summer theatre and a recently completed winter concert hall. Previously there were no nearby parking facilities, so Kleboth Lindinger Dollnig was asked to add some without disrupting views across the landscape.

The steeply sloping site allowed the architects to design the building as an extension of the hillside, with a grass roof that visitors can walk over.

“We wanted to create a magic structure but not a typical house,” architect Gerhard Dollnig told Dezeen. “Visitors to the Festspiele Erl should have the feeling that the garage is something like the start ramp of the event.”

Drivers access each floor using entrances at different points along the hill, so there was no need to add an additional ramp inside the structure. This allowed room to fit more parking spaces in.

Gaps between the cross-bracing columns permit views inside the structure, plus a skin of steel mesh will encourage plants to grow around the facade.

“The steel net should be overgrown with special plants over the years to become a ‘sleeping beauty castle’ that changes its skin over the seasons,” said Dollnig.

To avoid adding lines on the floors, the architects used blocks of white and orange to show the boundaries of parking spaces.

“The colour scheme should not just be seen by the cars inside the building but also by those passing on the street,” added Dollnig. “Together with the lighting, the building glimmers in the night.”

Other architect-designed car parks we’ve featured include a spiralling structure by Zaha Hadid and a car park by Herzog & de Meuron that also hosts yoga classes and weddings. See more car parks on Dezeen.

Photography is by Günther Richard Wett.

Here are a few words from Kleboth Lindinger Dollnig:

Parking Garage Tyrolean Festival Erl

The new festival parking garage is the final component in the repositioning of the Tyrolean Festival Erl. Not far from the famous Passionsspielhaus and the spectacular new Winter Festival Hall, the new parking garage with 550 parking spaces is built. The garage develops a unique character. Seen from the south it is very carefully embedded in the landscape, from the north, however, it is clearly visible.

Here, the garage becomes a stage for the festival guests: When exiting the garage, visitors enter a gallery overlooking the Inn valley. Only gradually the festival houses come into view. A clean cut 150m long wall creates a clear separation between outer space and car parking area.

Optimal orientation is guaranteed by an innovative, cheerful colour scheme.

The post Festspielgarage Erl by
Kleboth Lindinger Dollnig appeared first on Dezeen.

Zaha Hadid has become the latest in a string of architects to design a car park for Miami Beach.

The car park was commissioned following the popularity of other completed Miami garages by architects including Frank Gehry, Enrique Norton and Herzog & de Meuron, whose concrete and glass structure was featured on Dezeen last year.

The spiralling structure will be located in the Collins Park area in the northeast of South Beach.

Anyone interested in car park design can see a few more here.

Here’s some more text from the City of Miami Beach:

Legendary Architect Zaha Hadid Chosen to Design Miami Beach Parking Garage at Collins Park

Architect Zaha Hadid has been chosen by the City of Miami Beach to design its newest parking garage at Collins Park, a neighborhood that’s home to the Miami City Ballet, the Bass Museum, the City Library as well as the Gansevoort, W and Setai luxury hotels. Collins Park is also just blocks away from the Miami Beach Convention Center, the Frank Gehry-designed New World Center and the popular automobile-free Lincoln Road Mall.

Consistently sought-after, Zaha Hadid is the architect of the Aquatic Center for the 2012 London Olympics and the Cincinnati Contemporary Arts Center. Hadid is the first woman to win the Pritzker Architecture Prize – the profession’s highest honor – joins the growing list of world renowned architects who have designed and overseen construction of new parking garages in the City of Miami Beach.

“This is a great opportunity for the City of Miami Beach to expand its commitment to leading edge architectural design,”says Matti Bower, Mayor of the City of Miami Beach.“Even our parking garages are more than a group of parking spaces. Some have become destinations within themselves and have attained individual iconic status. Every building can be a work of art. We are pleased to work with Ms. Hadid and we are delighted with her contemporary and brilliant design for our newest parking garage.”

Miami Beach’s parking garages have received world-wide media attention and have become tourist attractions themselves. They include the Frank-Gehry designed, city-owned, Pennyslvania Avenue Garage; Herzog de Meuron’s minimalist, edgy space at 1111 Lincoln Road; Arquitectonica’s Ballet Valet Garage at 7th Street and Collins Avenue as well as their newest design in Sunset Harbour, which is currently under construction; Enrique Norton’s newly designed parking garage at 16th Street and Drexel Avenue; and Perkins and Will’s recent City Center Garage Project at 18th Street and Meridian Avenue. Hadid’s new design is expected to continue to raise the bar for garages worldwide. The City of Miami Beach is currently working with Ms. Hadid to determine commencement dates for the new garage’s design plans and construction.

Photographer Nelson Garrido has sent us these photographs of the recently-opened car park in Miami by Swiss architects Herzog & de Meuron. (more…)