Herzog & de Meuron's 1111 Lincoln Road multi-storey car park in Miami Beach also plays host to parties, yoga classes and weddings, explains proprietor Robert Wennett in this movie produced by filmmaker Elizabeth Priore (+ photographs by Hufton + Crow).
Named 1111 Lincoln Road, the concrete building with floor slabs supported on wedge-shaped columns was completed in 2010 to offer naturally lit parking levels that can also be used for other activities above a row of shops and restaurants.
"I had the opportunity to change people's perception of what parking is and to build a type of building that becomes a social gathering space and a public space" says Wennett. "Everything we do in the garage is not what you expect in a parking garage."
He goes on to explain how the building contains "a grand central staircase" rather than an enclosed stairwell and is also filled with public art. "To want to go to a parking garage, versus wanting to exit it as soon as possible becomes a new paradigm," he declares.
Finally, Wennett explains that he lives in an apartment on the top floor of the building. "People always ask me 'why would you want to live inside of a parking garage?' but the moment they arrive they never ask me the question again," he says.
Directed and produced by Elizabeth Priore, the movie is a semi-finalist in the Focus Forward filmmaker competition. Five winners are due to be announced in January.
We first revealed designs for 1111 Lincoln Road back in 2008, before featuring photographs of the completed building after it opened in 2010.
Herzog & de Meuron also recently completed a gallery that looks like a pair of barns in Long Island.
See more stories about Herzog & de Meuron, including interviews we filmed with both Jacques Herzog and Pierre de Meuron at the opening of their Serpentine Gallery Pavilion this summer.
See more photography by Hufton + Crow on Dezeen or on their website.