christian kerez eliminates ramps in bahrain car parks with sloping concrete geometries

Christian Kerez builds sculptural parking areas in bahrain

In the heart of Muharraq’s dense old city, Four Car Parks rethink what public infrastructure can be. Designed by Christian Kerez as part of Bahrain’s Pearl Path project, which also includes works by Anne Holtrop, Valerio Olgiati and OFFICE, these concrete parking areas are built to host gatherings, markets, and even prayer. The buildings add 45,000 square meters of space across four urban voids, reclaiming leftover land and offering it back to the city.

Each plot follows the same structural principles but takes a different spatial approach. The floors bend and connect without ramps. Instead, the slabs slope into each other, convex, concave, high, and low, creating continuous surfaces one can walk or drive through. The geometry shifts constantly. No slab is repeated. 

all images courtesy of Maxime Delvaux

stairs float between levels at Four Car Parks

Everything looks sculptural, but very little is bespoke. Conventional scaffolding and industrial parts form the base of the mold system. Still, every slab is unique. Christian Kerez’s design team scripted 75,000 sections at 1:20 scale, then printed them 1:1 to cut final formwork elements on site. 

The structure is minimal and exposed. Only columns and slabs hold it all up. To deal with earthquakes and wind, slabs are connected to one another for horizontal stiffness. Prefabricated concrete columns, just 25–30 centimeters thick, are reinforced with bent steel plates, handling spans of 10 meters. The stairs float between levels, adapting to height differences that range from 220 to 480 centimeters. Their lightweight construction keeps loads balanced. Elevator shafts are wrapped in transparent PVC foil.

In Plot B, the layout is the most regular. There are no circular openings in the slabs, just simple cuts for access. But even here, the visual rhythm holds. The car parks fit into the scale of the low-rise neighborhood around them. 

these concrete parking areas are built to host gatherings, markets, and even prayer

elevator shafts are wrapped in transparent PVC foil

the stairs float between levels, adapting to height differences

to deal with earthquakes and wind, slabs are connected to one another for horizontal stiffness

the floors bend and connect without ramps

the slabs slope into each other

1/7

prefabricated concrete columns, just 25–30 centimeters thick, are reinforced with bent steel plates

the geometry shifts constantly

the buildings add 45,000 square meters of space across four urban voids

the structure is minimal and exposed

Christian Kerez’s design team scripted 75,000 sections at 1:20 scale

every slab is unique

floor plans by Christian Kerez

project info:

name: Four Car Parks

architect: Christian Kerez | @christiankerez

location: Muharraq, Bahrain

project architect: Caio Barboza

commissioners: Bahrain Authority of Culture and Antiquities (BACA), Sheikha Mai Bint Mohammed Al-Khalifa, Noura Al-Sayeh Holtrop, Mustafa Salman Al Sulaiman

site office team: Caio Barboza, Dennis Saiello, Lisa Kusaka

project team: Daniel Carlson, Laura Paluch, Raoul Dubois, Jens Knöpfel, Matthias Leutert, Apolinário Soares, Jonas Løland, Sofia Blanco Santos, Christiana Pitsillidou, Korbinian Huber, Enrico Pinto, Siwen Wang, Anna Molodij, Yi Wang, Viktoriya Maleva, Oleksandra Nikitenko

engineering: Dr. Neven Kostic GmbH (concept), Monotti Ingegneri Consulenti SA (plots C & D), Ferrari Gartmann AG (plot A), Arsinals Engineering Design (engineer of record), EDGE Consulting Engineering (column-slab connection, staircase), Strong Force M.G.C. W.L.L. (pre-stressing slab)

landscape design: Catherine Dumont d’Ayot (plots C & D)

concrete consultant: Baukolorit AG, Marianne Huber

traffic engineering: LK Argus GmbH, Ivan Kosarev

3D traffic simulation: Alden Studio

lighting design: Siegrun Appelt with Mathias Burger

photographer: Maxime Delvaux | @maxdelv