Can a car park be homely and help improve environmental diversity? VRJ Group eco-friendly car park urban renewal takes into account the surrounding nature in Finland.
More often than not, car parks consist of just an enormous field of asphalt, with only few planting areas and narrow paving. Parking spaces are cramped, and the general appearance of paving is worn and shabby. Vegetation in the planting areas consists of single plant species, and the planting areas themselves are narrow and full of street sanding gravel. Shopping center entrances aren’t very inviting, and the seating areas are missing. There might even be some invasive plant species creeping in from the edge areas. Sounds familiar?
Could a car park be more homely or environmentally friendly, or both? In VRJ Groups’s urban renewal site, our goal was to make the parking area more modern, attractive, greener, and more diverse.
In Finland, VRJ Group, a partner of European Platform for Urban Greening, began the project by preparing a biodiversity guide that covers the planning, construction, operation, and maintenance phases of the area. The purpose of the biodiversity guide is to promote environmental friendliness throughout the life cycle of the area. The site has been designed based on the guide and the wishes of the customer.
As a result of the project, the parking area and its general appearance underwent a transformation. Parts of the asphalt field were switched out for water permeable surfaces. Areas of uneven concrete stone paving were levelled by cleaning up and reusing the old stones. The vegetation in planting areas was diversified, meadow plants were planted in the edge areas, and insect hotels are being installed on the site. Once the site is ready, urban runoff water will be partly collected and stored on site for use in the irrigation of the now more diverse vegetation.
The environmentally friendly nature of the work was further realized by use of heavy machinery and equipment that ran on electricity or biofuels. Construction waste from the renewal project was recycled, and excess soil from excavation operations was repurposed as the filler for landscaping mounds on the site.
The customer experience in the area was improved by widening the parking spaces and creating an attractive environment at the entrance with a beautiful green roof seating area with groups of tables and benches. Some of the parking spaces were also fitted with electric car charging stations.
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