When we think of carparks, it is often of bleak, boring, and visually jarring blocks of concrete. They are often secondary spaces, not designed for people to linger in, just necessary parts of the built environment in a world where the private car is the leading mode of transport.
However, now that the private car is in decline, and public transport is becoming an increasingly accessible and socially encouraged form of transportation, the future of the uncountable number of carparks around the world is brought into question. What happens to these huge concrete jungles once private cars are only a minority of users? Or if the world reaches a stage where these carparks are no longer required at all? Of course, one answer could be to demolish them, but given the huge amount of concrete already used in their construction, could there be a better way to adapt these spaces, and reuse them in a new way?
This was the question that Batesmart posed in their conceptual proposal for the adaptive reuse of carparks in Melbourne. In Melbourne, carparks are the third highest land use in the city, despite most cars there only being used for 36 minutes each day. Thus, a huge amount of valuable city space is being used to house vehicles that are mostly inactive. Batesmart's proposal looks at transforming these carparks into public parks, sporting facilities, and community venues that could be more useful to the people of Melbourne.
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