Maximizing space in overcrowded cities is a key value in construction projects nowadays.
The Giken Company from Japan has figured out an ingenious way to apply this principle to storage facilities, by literally turning building-making upside down with fully-automated underground garages for bikes (and even cars).
Giken's 'Eco-park' parking structures are secure, simple, and useful. They're also quite cool. Unmanned by attendants, they are defined by a small garage outpost coming out of the ground that would be mistaken for aerodynamic ATMs if you didn't know anything about them.
In order to use it, you're supposed to find an open hub and place the wheels on the aluminum runway. Then, in an adjacent slot, you have to swipe your membership card, for which you pay a monthly fee. Once the machine IDs your account, the doors of the garage open, and a locking base comes out in order to dock the bike. Then – whoosh! The bike is sucked into the hub quick and the doors close dramatically.
Within 10-25 seconds, your bike has descended into the deep machinery abyss underground. But don't worry, it's safe and sound. The locking base is switched underground and suspended in place in its own railway. Each garage includes 144 railways for bikes, which must abide by a certain length, height, and tire size (at 28-inches). Still, it's definitely a space saver.
Check out the video below to see how the process looks like.
So far, I haven't heard of machine complications that would crush bikes or make them fly off their railway. In fact, Giken is confident about the structure's ability to handle potential structural damage.
According to its website, Eco-parks are made with prefabricated structural cylinder piles that are 'pressed-in' to the ground with large piling machines that minimize vibration and noise. It takes fifty working days to build the structure from start to finish. Apparently, Giken is one of the leading construction businesses using this tech and has been used before to build tidal/flood defense systems.
Appropriately for this area of the world, the cylinder's wall structure (only about 23 ft. in diameter) is also designed to handle strong earthquakes.
Not surprisingly, Giken has also implemented the system for car garages. For that, the company needs about 63 feet in diameter to fit an underground cylinder storing fifty cars.
But what if the bike (or car) inevitably gets stuck or the city needs to make a repair? For that, there's a cubbyhole that allows a designated engineer to go under and fix it.
Currently, it costs about $30 (in Yen) for a monthly ticket and students pay half that amount.
What do you guys think? Should we try to get these in some of our most crowded cities? Would you trust the machine to take care of your car or bike for hours at a time? Let us know in the comments below.
If you've found more of these machines in Japan or elsewhere, let me know at jferm80@gmail.com.
Photo: olemiswebs/flickr, Giken
