Award set up by the Foundation

Foundation Award 2007

Parking in Sensitive City Locations

• „Lebendige Stadt” presents award to Europe’s best parking concepts 
  
• Winner: “P23” carpark in Amsterdam 
  
• Special mentions for Bruchsal, Göhren (Rügen), Graz, Innsbruck, Munich, Ulm and Wiesbaden 

Hamburg/Kiel, Dec 5, 2007 – The nonprofit „Lebendige Stadt” Foundation has presented an award to the “P23” carpark in Amsterdam as the best parking concept in Europe. The Foundation Award carrying a cash prize of 15,000 euros was presented to Dutch architects’ firm Rijnboutt Van der Vossen Rijnboutt by Alexander Otto, Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Foundation, at the state parliament in Kiel on Tuesday evening in the presence of Schleswig-Holstein Minister-President Peter Harry Carstensen. The 18-member expert jury chaired by Düsseldorf-based architect Hermann Henkel chose the winner from a total of 70 submitted entries. Six other inner city parking concepts received special mentions: the “Parkterrassen Nordstrand” in the Baltic Sea spa of Göhren on the island of Rügen, the parking concept of the city of Graz, the “Zentral-Garage” in Innsbruck, an residents’ automatic underground carpark in Munich, the “Parkhaus am Rathaus” in Ulm and the “Parkgarage unter dem Bowling Green” in Wiesbaden. The jury also praised the “Sandy” concept for sand-clock parking meters in Bruchsal as “an ingenious implementation of an interesting idea”. 

Presentation of the Foundation Award of the „Lebendige Stadt” Foundation in the assembly hall of the Kiel State Parliament: (back row, left to right) Jury chairman Hermann Henkel, Dr. Andreas Mattner, Chairman of the Foundation’s Executive Committee, Schleswig-Holstein Minister-President Peter Harry Carstensen and Alexander Otto, Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Foundation, with the award winners. 

The competition was open to parking concepts based on particularly creative and innovative solutions in terms of both design and form of operation. Alexander Otto, Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the „Lebendige Stadt” Foundation: "We naturally also attached importance to ecological aspects and the criterion of fundability for municipalities – as the award-winning parking concepts should not only be mold-breaking but also serve as best practice models for decision-makers in other towns and cities." 

“Parkgarage P23" in Amsterdam
The jury made a unanimous decision to give the 2007 Foundation Award to the “Parkgarage P23" in Amsterdam. The carpark is part of the redevelopment of the Amsterdam-Zuid-Oost district with its social housing dating back to the 60s and 70s. What is special about the carpark is that it is located beneath an existing elevated highway. This allowed the rededication of a problem-ridden open space for parking purposes and also made life safer in this district. The jury members also praised the cost concept as well as the unusual design of the carpark. The perforated sheet aluminum sections in the entrance and exit areas create a light scenario shaped by the constant incidence of light from the inside and outside as well as by the headlights of the cars entering and leaving the building. 

The Foundation Award for the best European parking concept carries a cash prize of 15,000 euros and was presented to the Dutch architects’ firm Rijnboutt Van der Vossen Rijnboutt for the “P23” carpark in Amsterdam: (from left) Jury chairman Hermann Henkel, Schleswig-Holstein Minister-President Peter Harry Carstensen, Dr. Ingrid Ostermann (Rijnboutt Van der Vossen Rijnboutt), Bart van der Vossen (architect at Rijnboutt Van der Vossen Rijnboutt) and Alexander Otto, Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Foundation. 

There were several other projects that received “special mentions”:

“Parkhaus am Rathaus” in Ulm

A special mention went to the “Parkhaus am Rathaus” in Ulm. According to the jury, this multi-storey carpark greatly enhances the urban environment. What is particularly positive about the project is that the local people were involved in the entire process from the original idea through to the design of the building. This means they can identify with the project and are able to see the redeveloped space as "their" carpark. The jury also praised the design of the carpark as exemplary.

Special mention for the “Parkhaus am Rathaus” in Ulm: (from left) Jury chairman Hermann Henkel, Helga Maleschewski (Ulmer Parkbetriebs GmbH), Schleswig-Holstein Minister-President Peter Harry Carstensen, Hartmut Pflüger (Ulmer Parkbetriebs GmbH), Alexander Otto, Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Foundation, and Klaus Linder (Ulmer Parkbetriebs GmbH).

“Tiefgarage unter dem Bowling Green” in Wiesbaden

There was also a special mention for two-level "Tiefgarage unter dem Bowling Green" underground carpark in Wiesbaden. This concept was implemented in combination with an elegant square design in the protected area in front of the Kurhaus spa building. The experts said the high-quality interior is particularly attractive, as is the link to the underground carpark. This link is on the side of the structure, ensuring that is functional but not does interfere with the overall impression.

Special mention for the "Tiefgarage unter dem Bowling Green" in Wiesbaden: (from left) Schleswig-Holstein Minister-President Peter Harry Carstensen, Alexander Otto, Chairman of the Foundation's Board of Trustees, City Councillor Detlev Bendel (Wiesbaden) and jury chairman Hermann Henkel.

"Parkterrassen Nordstrand" in Göhren

As in many reports on the Baltic Sea, the parking situation on the island of Rügen is difficult during the summer months. In the view of the jury, the plans for the "Parkterrassen Nordstrand" carpark represent a logical and cost-effective solution that has only minimal impact on the landscape. Instead of a multi-storey carpark, the idea is to create parking terraces that blend in with the existing sloping terrain. In the off-season, these terraces will form part of the landscaped park.

Special mention for the "Parkterrassen Nordstrand" in the Baltic Sea spa of Göhren: (from left) Schleswig-Holstein Minister-President Peter Harry Carstensen, Alexander Otto, Chairman of the Foundation's Board of Trustees, Göhren Mayor Carola Koos, jury chairman Hermann Henkel, Heide Schweinfest, Uta Ratsch and Hinnerk Wehberg.

Residents’ automatic underground carpark in Munich

The jury described the residents' automatic underground carpark, a pilot project of the Construction Agency in the state capital of Munich, as a model project. With the help of modern parking technology, this concept has created additional parking space underneath a public road in a densely built-up inner city quarter and improved the quality of the public space - by creating new green areas, for example. The parking spaces are allotted exclusively to long-term parkers who live within a radius of 400 meters of the carpark.

Special mention for the "Donnersbergstrasse residents’ automatic underground carpark" pilot project in Munich: (from left) Schleswig-Holstein Minister-President Peter Harry Carstensen, Ralf Wulf (Munich Construction Agency), jury chairman Hermann Henkel and Alexander Otto, Chairman of the Foundation's Board of Trustees.

Parking concept in Graz

The new parking concept in Graz was presented with a special award. The jury decided to confer this special award for overall civic parking concepts in order to do justice to the complex issue of "parking in the city". According to the jury, the Graz parking concept is a model for a central parking space management system. What the jury particularly liked, however, was the comprehensive approach, the staggered fee system, the way in which the project promotes the use of environment-friendly vehicles and its integration in the overall traffic planning concept. The members of the jury said the example of Graz shows that parking concepts require not only a suitable infrastructure but also, and above all, effective organizational solutions.

Special award for the parking concept in the city of Graz: (from left) Schleswig-Holstein Minister-President Peter Harry Carstensen, Günther Janezic (Grazer Parkraum GmbH), City Councillor for Transport Dr. Gerhard Rüsch (with certificate), Martin Kroißenbrunner (Graz Traffic Planning Officer), Dr. Gottfried Pobatschnig (Parking Area Management department), jury chairman Hermann Henkel, Horst Wagner (Parking Area Management department) and Alexander Otto, Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Foundation.

“Zentral-Garage” in Innsbruck

In the view of the jury, the "Zentral-Garage" in Innsbruck combines various different approaches. The idea is to connect several existing and privately owned underground carparks and therefore to achieve improved utilization of parking capacities. The positive thing about this concept is that takes the strain off the above-ground space without affecting the traffic flow. The jury not only praised the design aspects but also described the close cooperation between private owners and the public authorities as exemplary and future-oriented, saying that the project could be expanded to other underground garages in the surrounding area.

Special mention for the “Zentral-Garage” in Innsbruck: (from left) Schleswig-Holstein Minister-President Peter Harry Carstensen, Alexander Otto, Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Foundation, architect Doris Obermoser and jury chairman Hermann Henkel.

"Sandy", the sand-clock parking meter, in Bruchsal

The jury described the "Sandy" sand-clock parking meter as an ingenious implementation of a good idea. The meter is a marketing concept developed for the town of Bruchsal by the egghead Medien GmbH company: short-term parking is permitted in Bruchsal in specially marked parking spaces. In order to park there, however, motorists must buy a monthly ticket for the "Bruchsal CityBus". When they buy the ticket, they also get a sand clock to attach to the window of their vehicle. If they want to park in one of the short-term parking spaces, all they need to do is turn the sand clock upside down and can then park free of charge for 15 minutes. The jury praised the meaningful way in which private motorized transport and local public transport are linked to one another.

The 2007 Jury