At a slight bend in the A16 on the south-east side of Rotterdam, not far from the Erasmus University and the Brainpark, a multi-storey parking garage curves along with the road. The P+R Kralingse Zoom, completed in 2013, was designed by architectural studio ZJA.
The P+R Kralingse Zoom was devised to relieve the city of traffic. At the edge of town, drivers can park their cars pleasantly and efficiently and continue their journey by metro, bus, tram or bicycle. Nobody likes leaving their car and taking public transport at a bleak and dismal location that resembles a factory site. The challenge was to design a Park & Ride facility that performed its function in a friendly and inviting manner. That was the starting point for the design.
An impression of lightness
In the P+R design for Kralingse Zoom by ZJA the connection between roadway, parking and public transport is optimal. The car park that follows the bend in the road spans the metro lines. The metro station can be reached within a hundred metres of the building.
The parking garage is 175 metres long, but it nevertheless makes an impression of openness and lightness. This is attributable to its slim and rounded silhouette, but most of all to its open frontage, made up of slats in a light colour. An intriguing wave pattern has been created such that movement and light play a game with each other. For passing drivers it is a visually attractive eye-catcher, while for its users the building retains an open character with an important place reserved for daylight. Long and uninterrupted sightlines, high spaces between floors and cleverly installed lighting give visitors a natural ability to orientate and a feeling of safety. Wide passageways and stairs, and short routes to platforms, exits and bus stops, facilitate an unobstructed flow of people at rush hour. The lower levels are clothed with climbing plants and the external space is smoothly interwoven with the surroundings by means of terraces.
The design by ZJA anticipates the addition of another three storeys, making possible an expansion from 1,040 to 1,550 parking places. The foundations and the columns have the potential to support nine storeys. The layout of the ground floor is designed to allow space for a covered garage for 400 bicycles. The green plinth, the integration into the surroundings and the open and light character of the building ensure this is not a bleak and inhospitable setting but a comfortable part of a smooth journey through the urban environment.
Architect: ZJA
Contractor: Ballast Nedam
Year: 2013
Project: #499
At the Kralingse Zoom on the edge of Rotterdam, where the A16 and the metro and bus lines come together, the P+R Kralingse Zoom, designed…
On 27 September Vincent Karremans of the Rotterdam City Council opened the new supervised bicycle parking facility at the P+R Kralingse…
