Modular timber parking garage system

The cities of Helsinki and Vantaa wanted to create a timber parking garage system for dense urban areas. The main ideas were to create a flexible system that is economically and ecologically feasible and that the system can be removed and rebuilt in a new location.

As long as we have not gotten rid of private cars we need to solve the needs of their parking. Parking garages are required when building dense urban areas. These facilities should be built as carbon storages maximizing their life span both on the original plot and possibly in future ones.

The current methods of constructing parking garages produce considerable carbon footprints. This project included a thorough study of the the technical issues to solve when building parking facilities in a more sustainable way using wood. The construction system developed on the basis of these studies is highly modular consisting of three basic elements: the straight middle part, the curved end and the rectangular corner. These modules are built using CLT, glue lam and a continuous elastomer floor surface. All the joints are mechanical to enable easy and fast assembly and re-assembly. The open timber structure of the facility is protected from weather using identical inclined plates of Accoya wood with great moisture protection capabilities.

The concept was designed using two case studies: one for Kuninkaantammi in Helsinki and one for Puu-Kivistö in Vantaa.