Modern car park façades combine form with function – but one of Maple’s latest projects is also a showcase for public art.
The
architectural façade on a new car park at Cambridge Science Park incorporates ingenious backlit, hexagon-shaped ‘frames’ to showcase work by local artists and sculptors.
It’s part of a design by architects Scott Brownrigg to create a landmark building to sit alongside the imposing 1-21 commercial development next door. But with today’s car parks much more than functional buildings of concrete and steel, Maple’s striking façade is a showstopper in itself.
Three-metre high
solid aluminium panels make a bold statement and echo the clean lines of plot 1-21’s giant sweeping colonnade. They are complemented by grey, powder-coated
perforated panels. Rainscreen cladding will also protect users from the elements on the main stair cores.
Together, they complete a façade that not only looks great but also protects car park users from the elements, while allowing natural light and ventilation. In fact, central to the façade brief was a requirement for 51% of ‘free space’ between (and within) the panels to allow exhaust fumes to escape.
Established in 1970 by Trinity College Cambridge, the Cambridge Science Park is Europe’
s oldest and most successful science park. It’s the latest science park project for Maple, having completed a brise soleil system at Oxford Science Park and rooftop plant screening at the Menai Science Park in Anglesey.
KNOWLEDGE CENTRE