Bicycle parking P+R Kralingse Zoom, Rotterdam

Inserting the bicycle garage

On the north side of the building was a covered transit area with some bicycle racks. It had once been part of the design as extra space for the bus station. It occupies an extremely suitable place for a parking facility for bicycles.ZJA design takes account of the other end of the building, where the bottom two storeys have a green outer wall. A combination of coloured grids and recesses with living greenery restores the symmetry.

The bicycle parking facility has space for around 500 bicycles, 280 of them in the free, covered and staffed garage. The other parking spots are partly under the building and partly outside. Those places are not supervised.

The bicycle parking facility still has the potential to expand. Greater capacity could be created by making use of its height, or by including the parts that are not staffed and using them in the same way.

Bright, safe atmosphere

The entrance is conspicuous and four metres wide, with a porch that has spot lighting, making it feel inviting. Behind that is a spacious reception area with above it large round lights that create a pleasant atmosphere. The attendants’ room has large windows on all sides. The way the space is divided up creates long sight lines to optimize visibility and a sense of safety.

The ceiling of the bicycle garage is six metres high, so to give it more of a human scale the lighting hangs low, creating a virtual ceiling at a height of about four metres. This ensures good lighting and contributes to the sense of being in a safe and supervised environment.

From the street the impression made by the building is bright, open and green, as a result of the vertical green glass façade elements and the recesses with living greenery. The new bicycle parking facility improves the functionality of the P+R Kralingse Zoom while at the same time increasing the visual quality of the transferium and introducing a more lively use of the surrounding public space.