Developers Are Now Designing Adaptable Parking Space

The future is here. Developers aren’t just thinking about designing adaptable parking structures, they are designing them today and using them for alternative uses. Affordable artist colony Ace 121 in Glendale has an adaptable parking structure, designed by architecture firm Studio One Eleven. The parking structure serves both the community and an adjacent YMCA. By day, it parks cars, but during the evening and in off hours, it is designed to be used as an event space and garden gallery for sculptures created by the resident artists.

“The YMCA complex is a three-quarter-block area, and it is flaked on one side by a Spanish building that houses the gymnasium and housing units. On the other side, there is a 1960s building that has all of the other YMCA services, and on the third side of the building is Ace 121,” Michael Bohn, senior principal and design director at Studio One Eleven, tells GlobeSt.com. “In the parking court, which is surrounding by these distinct buildings, we wanted something more than a place to park cars. In the daytime, it will house cars, but in the evening we designed the space so that it can be closed off for events. We will also have an area to display the sculpture that is created over time and will transform the space into a sculpture garden.”