Ultimate garage is a vertical vehicle showcase, workshop and playground – for HK$43 million

Oct 13 , 2017

All mechanical and technical information is at the owner’s fingertips with the help of the digital screens.

Serious car collectors need creative solutions in dense urban conditions

Car collectors consider their automobile collection their prime investment. When you have splashed out on your dream cars, there’s no point hiding them in a backyard garage or basement car park.

Car collectors need a creative pavilion to store and showcase their coveted collections.

Andrew Burdick, associate partner at Ennead Architects and director of Ennead Lab, has the perfect solution. To Burdick, a garage is a space that boasts good memories. “The garage has always been a place where technology and human experience merge,” Burdick says. It’s not just a hi-tech innovation – it’s a shelter [for cars] and a space for social interaction, which Burdick refers to as “garage culture”.

The Toy Box creates an architectural showcase for electric charging technology, as well as digital display and entertainment technologies to create a holistic space to support various car culture-related functions. Illustrations: Ennead Architects/Ennead Lab

He recalls time spent with his dad in the garage restoring vintage Volkswagens, and being inspired by his brothers who showed him images of innovative car designs.

In view of the growing need for cutting-edge electric vehicles and the rapidly expanding market, Burdick has come up with a hi-tech tower where technology and space come together to support different activities and create “enriching, fulfilling and authentic experiences”.

To fulfil the needs of a 21st century car fanatic, Burdick has come up with a dream garage. There is a charging station, built upon Ennead Lab’s previous charging tower project for electric cars. Meanwhile, the garage is also a “toy box” which serves as a hi-tech workshop, a showcase and a retreat for car collectors.

The tower organises the cars vertically to save land and allow a minimal footprint on the ground.

At its most basic, the building is for storing cars. Instead of the horizontal arrangement in most garages, cars are stored vertically in Burdick’s tower to save space and minimise ecological footprint.

The tower is wrapped by two glass facades. According to Burdick, the inner glass facade generates a waterproof, airtight and air-conditioned space for the cars. “It creates a museum-quality showcase for automobiles,” he explains.