Curated by Paula Pintos
PARKING, ADAPTIVE REUSE • KARLSRUHE, GERMANY
Architects : Tafkal
Area : 1440 m²
Year : 2018
Photographs : Nikolay Kazakov
Manufacturers : Sika, Nemetschek, Orion Bausysteme GmbH
Lighting Design : Sara Karim
Clients : Karlsruher Fächer GmbH
Engineering : künstlin ingenieure
Consultants : Bender + Urich ingenieurbüro
Lead Architect : Jon Steinfeld, Tobias Göttert
Design Team : Sara Karim, Andreea Damian, Veronica Lill
City : Karlsruhe
Country : Germany
Textual content description supplied by the architects. Winds of change – turning a parking storage right into a biking storage. Re-use of a carparking storage on the most important station of Karlsruhe, Germany, right into a storage for biking commuters. The Space south of the principle station of Karlsruhe has been deserted for a few years now. Within the early nineties, Rem Koolhaas had the fee for his first mayor building, the to-be-internationally-renowned ZKM, a museum for digital artwork and media. However, after years of discussing and arguing, the town of Karlsruhe pulled again from the undertaking and opened the ZKM at one other spot – with out Rem. For the previous 25 years, the world was reserved for automobiles and busses, including the wanted infrastructure for people coming to the principle station.
In spring 2017, issues began to vary. An investor developed plans for the empty plot, and never quickly after, the parking spots needed to transfer as a result of development works. The town of Karlsruhe determined that this will likely be a one-time-chance to set a sign in direction of its neighborhood: Karlsruhe would quitting its outdated, car-friendly infrastructure, pushing the share of biking in direction of the mark of 30% of the entire site visitors within the metropolis. Whereas the most important parking yard is being eliminated, the Metropolis of Karlsruhe didn’t consider new area for automobiles. As an alternative it invested in probably the most fashionable storage, for bikes solely.
TAFKAL was commissioned for this time-sensible undertaking – and 9 months after the preliminary briefing, the storage was opened by the main of Karlsruhe. Immediately, the intense and colourful storage matches as much as 670 bikes – not solely citybikes and cruisers, but in addition cargobikes, bikes with trailers and e-bikes. A reserved room for commuting bikers gives a contemporary locker-room with area to get modified and recent water. A minimal workshop open to all bikers, gives skilled instruments to take care of the bikes.
The inside of the storage modified from a dusted gray to a pleasant and colourful ambiance. The graphics, impressed by the metro maps of Karlsruhe, information the biker from the doorway to the chosen place for locking the bike. The 1.300 m2 huge storage is split into 5 zones, every marked by a unique coloration on the ground, the stand and the custom-made lighting, which additionally has been designed by TAFKAL.
