Archiving Home

This project converts an existing car park in Cardiff into the heart of the city centre in an attempt to strengthen community bonds. The existing ramped car park belonged to the Marriott hotel and in a world where our reliance on vehicles is diminishing, the central location of this building offered a prime opportunity to convert it into a community feature.

The car park was converted into a community hub featuring rentable art studios, a cafe, a small library and co-working spaces. The existing concrete structure was maintained with certain secondary beams being removed and new columns erected for support to create triple-height spaces allowing light into the deepest part of the plan.

The structure was extended two-storeys to be levelled out with a transfer slab and new timber build erected above. The timber structure houses a six-storey stepped-back co-living scheme featuring a six-tier open atrium. There are multiple platforms supported by large glulam timber columns and beams to create an open communal environment for residents to connect in. The concept of co-living fosters connections between residents by sharing communal facilities which encourage spontaneous and organic interactions. It also serves as a solution to the housing crisis and is a more sustainable way of living by minimising private spaces in exchange for larger shared resources. The communal spaces area featured in curved forms to create stimulating environments to draw people into encouraging them to connect with others. The private residential units are in rigid, rectangular shapes to allow residents to retreat back into them if they wish to have privacy.

The heart of this project is the courtyard level which was originally the roof of the car park. This becomes an indoor-outdoor courtyard level with a gym, cafe and rentable event room as well as gardening plots, outdoor seating and a covered playground. This level acts as a bridge between the public community hub below and the private co-living scheme above and is the heart of the project. It becomes an area for the public and the residents to connect with nature and each other to strengthen community bonds.