Today, the first of three huge prefabricated, concrete elements for the bike parking on the IJ-side of Amsterdam Central Station has been carefully arranged in place, under water. This parking facility will be realized (semi) floating, ín the water. The first element was transported floating to the location and is today sunk on foundation piles that have been installed in the bottom of the river IJ. Depending on the weather conditions, the second and third elements will be arranged in place on Thursday 2 and Sunday 5 December.

Click HERE to check all steps of this highly technical and exceptionally meticulous ‘tour de force’.

 

VenhoevenCS architecture+urbanism, together with Van Hattum en Blankevoort and DS Landscape Architects, designed the IJboulevard bike parking as a ‘plug-in’ at the mobility hub of Amsterdam Central Station. The underwater parking facility for 4,000 bicycles will be an extension of the public space. The smooth line along which cyclists and pedestrians move inspired flowing shapes within the robust design and its spacious, column-free, and thus well-arranged layout. The roof of the parking facility will soon be a boulevard along the IJ for pedestrians; between the piles that fix the construction, bio huts, wood, coconut mats and porous concrete facilitate the underwater ecology.

The design builds on VenhoevenCS’s ambition to turn functional infrastructure assignments into seductive spaces that contribute to urban culture.

“When you cycle or walk past the station, you don’t see a construction pit but a floating construction site. Everything is transported over water – including those huge concrete elements that will soon form a bicycle shed of up to 237 meters in length.” Danny Esselman

Follow the construction live via webcam: Webcam IJboulevard Amsterdam (LIVE) | Bouw.live

The bicycle shed on the IJ is a collaboration between the municipality of Amsterdam, Amsterdam Transport Region and ProRail. At work are now: Van Hattum en Blankevoort, Volker Staal en Funderingen (VSF), Homij Technische Installaties, Gebr. Van Kessel, Strukton Immersion Projects and Mammoet Nederland.

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