Disused parking garage transformed into community hub in London

The world has a parking problem. Case in point: Apple’s new headquarters, which provides more space for parking than for working. Apple isn’t alone though. Across the world, cities allocate thousands of square miles to storing cars, often as the result of mandated minimum parking codes.

Tim Crocker via Wallpaper

The problem? Many of those parking garages sit half-empty, making cars parks wastes of space in cities where space is at a premium. One solution? Repurposing the garages into usable space for communities. A new project from Carl Turner Architects and Makeshift has transformed seven levels of a London parking garage into a building that houses local makers, studios, street-food kiosks, a hair salon, and co-working space.

To build Level 5, the architects had to install toilets and walls. The floors remain slanted with yellow arrows painted onto them in some cases. The building still has the DNA of a parking garage, but it’s been totally revamped for public use—with no cars in sight.

This isn’t the first project to tackle the idea of transforming underutilized parking infrastructure. Some new building designs even come with flexible parking spaces intended to be converted to other uses when needed. If you can’t reduce parking altogether, you might as well reuse it to brilliant effect.

Tim Crocker via Wallpaper

Via: Fast Co, Wallpaper