The project consists of a very basic structure of columns and slabs. The slabs are built in the shape of one or several shells. The floor and the ceiling create a series of spaces changing from concave to convex and back again. Throughout the building, the slabs touch each other in a way that you reach one level from another in a continuous transition without the additional element of a ramp. The geometrical transformation of the slabs provides a constantly changing spatial experience when moving up or down the parking as the slabs shift from high to low, from concave to convex, and from spaces expanding to the interior to spaces expanding to the exterior of the building.
The parking garage is understood as a public space within the city. The four structures in the old town of Muharraq are part of the Pearl Path Project by the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage in Bahrain. This infrastructural project creates large open spaces within the existing dense urban fabric. Its large scale and ever-changing form add a new spatial quality to the historic city centre. Four structures in different locations follow the same spatial concept in different ways, due to their specific site conditions. The Parking is not a hideaway storage for cars but an open experience of the driveway up and down the city. The Parking creates a link from our present time with its possibilities and commodities to the restauration and preservation of National Heritage Houses.
Commissioners:
Bahrain Authority of Culture and Antiquities (BACA),
Sheikha Mai Bint Mohammed Al-Khalifa
Architect: Christian Kerez
Project Team: Caio Barboza
Bartosz Bukowski, Daniel Carlson, Sofia Blanco Santos, Jonas Løland, Raoul Dubois, Matthias Leutert, Jens Knöpfel, Enrico Pinto, Christiana Pitsillidou, Laura Paluch, Korbinian Huber, Siwen Wang, Lisa Kusaka, Dennis Saiello
General Planner:
Arsinals Engineering Design – Fuad Sharaf
Structural Engineers:
Monotti Ingeneri Consulenti SA – Mario Monotti, Concept and Staircase
Arsinals Engineering Design – Engineer of Record
Strong Force M.G.C. W.L.L. – Pre-Stressed Concrete Slabs
EDGE Consulting Engineering – Column Slab Connection
Dr. Neven Kostic GmbH – Neven Kostic, Handrail
Traffic Engineer Consulting: Ivan Kosarev, LK Argus GmbH
Traffic Design 3D: Alden Studio
General Contractor: Mohammed Abdulmohsin Al-Kharafi & Sons W.L.L.