Q-Park Ravet is a parking garage but not as you know it. Conceived by Hérault Arnod Architectures and located in the French city of Chambéry, the project comprises a flowing, glowing, glass-enclosed structure that houses the necessary car parking spaces, alongside a bright red sculptural staircase and box that hang on its façade, executed in collaboration with artist Krijn de Koning. The Paris-based architecture studio and Dutch artist arrived at this imaginative solution when faced with the challenge of creating the, typically, fairly utilitarian structure, on a plot set against the city's biggest 12th-century monument – the castle of the Dukes of Savoy.
Q-Park Ravet by Hérault Arnod Architectures with Krijn de Koning
Q-Park Ravet’s main body was carved as a curved, translucent volume with gentle edges and a discreet personality during the day – which becomes illuminated at night, as it comes alive through contrast, light and transparent movement. De Koning's artistic touch brings an added layer of spectacle that transforms the scheme from straightforward infrastructure to a layered piece of urban drama. In collaboration, the design team attached a sculptural ‘belvedere’ (or viewing platform) strategically placed to oversee the castle to the exterior of the garage building, allowing visitors to use it as a viewing platform to admire and take in the city's historical treasure.
Photovoltaic panels on the rooftop, and gardens planted with ferns, periwinkles, maples, hydrangeas, pines, fig trees, lavender, and various grass typologies inside, blend a city-centre experience with a nod to nature through sustainable architecture techniques.
Meanwhile, 'the belvedere lends a public and urban dimension to the building, enabling a new way to embrace the city', the team write. 'The belvedere-sculpture, cantilevered out to the axis of the rue de Boigne, is attached to the building of the car park, with tones subduing the warm colours of the façades of the old town houses. From above, it offers a majestic panorama towards the urban landscape, the river, the castle, and the Alps. Descending the belvedere staircase puts you on the axis of the street, and it is framed at mid-height to highlight a unique perspective of the historic city.'
-
Year in review: Barbie to Snoop Dogg, the starriest design collaborations of 2024Design collabs went stellar as Snoop Dogg & Dr Dre served up Gin & Juice with Ini Archibong; Michael Bennett showcased lighting with Gantri; and Barbie turned Kartell furniture pink
-
RollAway Hospitality describe their all-electric RV as a luxurious suite on wheelsA Californian start-up combines zero emission tech with expert packaging to create a designer camping experience
-
‘I’m always looking for something weird’: Palace’s Lev Tanju on his new role as creative director for Fila+Wallpaper* fashion features editor Jack Moss sits down with Lev Tanju as the Palace founder brings his unabashed love of clothes to a new role as creative director of Fila+
-
Explore wood architecture, Paris' new timber tower and how to make sustainable construction look ‘iconic’A new timber tower brings wood architecture into sharp focus in Paris and highlights ways to craft buildings that are both sustainable and look great: we spoke to project architects LAN, and explore the genre through further examples
-
A transformed chalet by Studio Razavi redesigns an existing structure into a well-crafted Alpine retreatThis overhauled chalet in the French Alps blends traditional forms with a highly bespoke interior
-
La Grande Motte: touring the 20th-century modernist dream of a French paradise resortLa Grande Motte and its utopian modernist dreams, as seen through the lens of photographers Laurent Kronental and Charly Broyez, who spectacularly captured the 20th-century resort community in the south of France
-
Fondation Cartier pour l’art contemporain unveils plans for new Jean Nouvel buildingFondation Cartier pour l’art contemporain has plans for a new building in Paris, working with architect Jean Nouvel
-
Discover Tempe à Pailla, a lesser-known Eileen Gray gem nestled in the French RivieraTempe à Pailla is a modernist villa in the French Riviera brimming with history, originally designed by architect Eileen Gray and extended by late British painter Graham Sutherland
-
At Lee Ufan Arles, tension and calm guide relationships between space and artLee Ufan Arles opens in the south of France, a collaboration between the famed Korean artist and Japanese architect Tadao Ando
-
A new era: Centre Pompidou architects discuss their bold 2030 plansPlans for the Centre Pompidou 2030 vision were recently announced, revealing a design refresh of the iconic Paris structure; we caught up with its lead architects Moreau Kusunoki to hear more
-
The Grand Paris Express, Europe’s largest urban design project, is en route to successThe Grand Paris Express is a system of new rapid transit lines across the French capital, with each station designed by a different architect – and it's currently under construction
