pavilion + underground parking by UNstudio in city garden, groningen

pavilion + underground parking by UNstudio in city garden, groningen
photo © ronald tilleman
all images courtesy of UNstudio

to complement the development of the EEA & tax office campus in groningen, the netherlands, UNstudio has designed and realized an underground car park and pavilion building within a new city garden, conceived by lodewijk baljon landscape architects. the project follows the completion of the site’s major structures, which were finished in 2011. see designboom’s coverage of the UNstudio-designed EEA & tax office building here.

situated within the large garden, the two-story pavilion structure relates to the architectural qualities of the main EEA & tax office building, but with a more bold character. glass curtain wall façades wrap the south and west sides of the facility, to visually link its interior spaces to the surrounding park. the pavilion houses a variety of programs, including fitness, restaurant, café, and a business center.a gently sloping exterior staircase provides access to the rooftop terrace, which exists as a continuation of the garden experience.

the pavilion structure relates to the architecture of the EEA & tax office building, but with a more bold character
photo © ronald tilleman

the garden serves as an important addition to the community’s parklands and combines the secure atmosphere of a garden with the liveliness of an urban public space. through a carefully selected collection of appropriate native and exotic vegetation, the landscape functions to nourish and shelter birds and insects. the site’s arrangement includes a total of 55,000 plants in a range of 200 species.

the city garden complements the EEA & tax office campus, seen at the right in this photo
photo © ronald tilleman

the underground car park accommodates 700 vehicles, with 60 stalls featuring electric charging connections. additionally, a separate section of the structure, with its own entrance, allows for storage of 1500 bicycles. three open air skylights, dubbed kieuwen (gills), break the ground plane to provide daylight and passive ventilation to the subterranean spaces. they simultaneously function as emergency staircases and informal access points to the parking facility.

glass curtain wall façades wrap the building’s south and west sides, to visually link interior spaces to the garden
photo © ronald tilleman

dutch artist giny vos, in close collaboration with UNstudio, designed a light installation between the entrance to the underground car park and the main entrance to the office building, titled ‘possibility plant.’ it spans vertically from the ground level, where it is seen as a black box, to the entry floor, where it reveals its secret coded data of the parking structure.

the garden’s arrangement includes a total of 55,000 plants in a range of 200 species
photo © ronald tilleman

three open air skylights break the ground plane to provide daylight and passive ventilation to the subterranean spaces
photo © ronald tilleman

‘possibility plant,’ designed by artist giny vos, spans vertically from the ground level to the parking’s entry area
photo © ronald tilleman

photo © ronald tilleman

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project info:

location: groningen, the netherlands
status: realised
program: underground parking-1,500 bicycles and 700 cars; pavilion commercial-1,500 sqm
client of the consortium: dutch government buildings agency (RGD)
client of UNstudio: consortium DUO² (strukton, ballast nedam, john laing)
client of pavilion: strukton vastgoed
UNstudio team: ben van berkel, caroline bos, gerard loozekoot with frans van vuure, jacques van wijk and filippo lodi, machiel wafelbakker, wendy van der knijff, tatjana gorbachewskaja, marie prunault, derrick diporedjo, nemanja kordic, chenqi jia, patrik noomé, jesca de vries, alicja mielcarek, maud van hees, lars nixdorff, ramon van der heijden, pablo herrera, martijn prins, altan arslanoglu, alexander hugo, arjan van der bliek, eric den eerzamen, erwin horstmanshof, gary freedman, jack chen, leon bloemendaal, machteld kors, nathalie balini, norman hack, peter moerland, remco de hoog, rené rijkers, timothy mitanidis, wesley lankriet, willi van mulken, yuri werner
landscape advisor: lodewijk baljon
installations advisor: strukton worksphere
installations pavilion advisor: harwig
facade pavilion advisor: degroot&visser, sorba
photography: ronald tilleman