Parking Garage

The result of a prize-winning proposal for a competition for recent graduates, this 500-car parking garage defines the boundary between a textile company’s headquarters and a suburban residential district. The design strategy – based on the project’s organisation into two compact volumes with a wide-span steel structure, inside of which each contain two sloping levels – had a three-fold effect. On the interior no other ramps were necessary; there was space to provide ample height on all the levels and, at the same time, the building occupied little surface area. Between the two volumes there is a circulation space composed of metal-grated platforms and a cascading staircase. Natural light and ventilation enters into the two volumes through this space as well as through the facades that are covered by wooden pieces placed at intervals, much like a garden fence. Huge folding doors articulate the facade facing the company allowing for car access onto the ground floor.