The new multi-storey car-park at Galway Clinic provides 580 parking spaces over three levels. Located on the site of the Clinic’s previous main surface car-park which had been well-landscaped, visually unobtrusive and set against a backdrop of natural woodland, one of the main design challenges was to minimise the visual impact of the new building on the surrounding landscape.

Whilst the new car-park covers a large area of the site, extending almost to the footprint of the original car-park, its shape and form have been designed to break-up and reduce the mass of the building. This has been achieved by incorporation of set-backs and curves to the perimeter of the building to break the main long south-facing side of the car-park. Also, the bulk of the car-park is reduced by setting-back the upper level of parking along the southern, eastern and western elevations and by reducing the effective height of the car-park by sloping the external ground level up at a steep angle  around the perimeter of the car-park to conceal the low wall surrounding the lowest level of parking.

In addition, the external finishes of the new building were selected to be compatible with the surrounding natural features and landscape.  The principle facades of the building comprise only two main components – the four vertical stair-cores providing access to the upper levels of the car-park and the horizontal cladding panels surrounding the perimeter at first and second floor – and these are respectively faced externally with natural limestone rubble/timber sheeting and reconstituted stone cladding panels with vertical ribs & exposed  aggregate finish which compliment the backdrop of woodland copse and limestone outcrops / dry-stone walls.