Access to the Parking Lot under the Hill of the Brescia Castle, Brescia, Italy

Competition 2011. 1st price

Inferior accesses from the neighborhood of Santa Chiara and upper accesses from the castle’s pathway. The project includes the construction of a 500 spaces parking lot under the hill of the Brescia Castle, strategically placed next to the old town. Besides the obvious technical problems of completing such a big excavation in the heart of the city, there was another difficulty of urbanistic and patrimonial nature.

The intention is that the accesses to the city from the inside of the mountain are made using two existing tunnels, built as anti-air refuges during World War II. Also, these tunnels and the large entrance hall of the parking lot will be taken advantage of as part of the alternate path that will let visitors ascend the almost 50 m that separate the city and the castle, in an easy and fast way. This will be possible with the use of a tilted axis elevator that will connect the parking lot to the castle’s pathway, located practically at the same height as its entrance.

The project carefully tends to both access points, the lower one, at the Santa Chiara neighborhood, with its opening and the treatment of the tunnels, and the upper, at the Castle, with the shape of a pavilion that serves as a vantage point to gaze upon the city and as entrance hall to the castle.

Authors: Linazasoro&Sánchez Arquitectura, VIA Ingenieria