Car Park Architecture

If you are a lover of concrete architecture then multi-storey car parks don't often disappoint in terms of their visual appeal. There is something hugely satisfying about the way their visible external construction contrasts with the seemingly dark voids of the open interior.

Here are a couple of fantastic examples that I photographed recently in Bristol.

Prince Street multi storey car park, Bristol

With it's amazing concrete lattice work exterior and V-shaped supports, The Prince Street car park is surely one of the most striking buildings in Bristol. With one side of it on a wide road and the opposite side facing directly onto the waterfront it is well placed to be viewed and enjoyed from a variety of angles.

Wow! Not one but two different kinds of lattice work.

A closer view of this amazing facade

and a more detailed view

The Rupert Street car park dates from 1960 (I think) and looks very graceful in appearance with it's six layers and spiralling, fan-like construction.

Rupert Street multi storey car park, Bristol

Nicely angled straight edges giving an overall curved effect

Here you can appreciate how the building seems to fan out from the centre.

I will try and photograph more car parks as and when I can as I think they often get overlooked in terms of architectural merit given that we mostly just want to park our cars as quickly as possible so we can get on with other things. Perhaps it is this ultra functional purpose that often leads architects to come up with such interesting and imaginative designs...

If you feel the need for a nicely illustrated book about car parks I would recommend "The Architecture of Parking" by Simon Henley published by Thames and Hudson. 

Simon Henley, The Architecture of Parking, 2007, Thames & Hudson

In addition to some amazing photographs and well researched text, he also includes many architectural drawings and diagrams which add extra interest to the subject.