Parking for cars with apartments for swallows and bats

A parking lot can become a decoration of a city landscape – this was proved by the architects of the Dutch firm dok architekten, who designed a multi-level parking lot in Zwolle, a city in the north-east of the Netherlands.

The forms of the sand brick building with oriental ornaments on the facade are inspired by the journey along the Silk Road through Central Asia. "The image of the parking lot is inspired by an eastern caravanserai, a place where caravans stop to rest for the night," the architects write on their website. "The elegant spiral of the ramp rises to the roof, and the patterns of the brickwork are highlighted by spotlights after sunset. It creates an almost dreamlike atmosphere, as if in an oriental fairy tale."

Image source: dokarchitecten.nl

Image source: dokarchitecten.nl

Image source: dokarchitecten.nl

The building of the parking lot is designed to meet BREEAM sustainability standards. The roof of the parking lot is 800 square meters of solar panels. The smart navigation system immediately directs the car to free places, and the LED lighting system reacts to movement, which allows you to save electricity. There are 28 charging stations for electric car owners.

The back facade is decorated with climbing vines, and the holes in the parking lot walls are nothing more than places for nesting swallows and houses for bats.

Image source: dokarchitecten.nl

Image source: dokarchitecten.nl

Image source: dokarchitecten.nl

This caravanserai is located between the exit from the highway and the city center, and guests of Zwolle can leave their cars here before going shopping or walking through the medieval streets of the hill town.

Image source: dokarchitecten.nl

Image source: dokarchitecten.nl