Awesome Modular Public Lounge Takes Over Vancouver’s Parking Spaces

We're taking our streets back <a href="http://inhabitat.com/parking-day-2010-takes-place-this-friday-around-the-world/">one parking space</a> at a time and turning them into awesome public spaces. For this year's Parking Day, a group in Vancouver rallied together and transformed two parking spaces into an awesome <a href="http://inhabitat.com/tag/modular">modular</a> public deck. <a href="http://www.facebook.com/pages/Parallel-Park/116910235077103?sk=wall" target="_blank">Parallel Park</a> was just installed at the beginning of September and is located at <a href="http://maps.google.com/maps?q=14th+Avenue+and+Main+Street,+Vancouver,+BC&amp;hl=en&amp;ll=49.258279,-123.100852&amp;spn=0.00187,0.004812&amp;sll=49.252373,-123.11041&amp;sspn=0.059834,0.15398&amp;vpsrc=6&amp;t=h&amp;z=18" target="_blank">14th Avenue and Main Street</a> next to two coffee shops. The new "on-street" public space is part of the <a href="http://vancouver.ca/engsvcs/streets/vivavancouver/" target="_blank">VIVA Vancouver</a> program, which seeks to demonstrate new, interesting and fun uses for public space in Vancouver. Viva la Parallel Park!

The goal of VIVA Vancouver is to <a href="http://inhabitat.com/nyc/summer-streets-returns-to-nyc-banning-cars-from-7-miles-of-manhattan/">transform street spaces</a> where cars normally go into people places to give residents more room to walk, bike, dance, skate, sit, hang out with friends and neighbors.

So far, the program has <a href="http://vancouver.ca/engsvcs/streets/vivavancouver/spaces.htm" target="_blank">developed 8 projects</a> around the city, which includes pedestrian street only days, a theater, mobile digital projections and parking space park conversions.

Parallel Park is the latest urban transformation project and was opened to the public on September 1.

Parallel Park was designed by Travis Martin, who works for <a href="http://www.vdz.ca" target="_blank">van der Zalm + Associates</a>, a local landscape architecture firm, in cooperation with master builder Tyler Harris of <a href="http://www.happyvalleywoodwork.com/">Happy Valley Woodwork</a>.

Custom designed and prefabricated offsite, the modular deck provides "no purchase necessary" seating to passersby.

Corporate sponsors, Dick's Lumber and ICI paints provided the materials for the project.

Acting more like a <a href="http://inhabitat.com/aritist-molly-dillworth-creates-a-tranquil-oasis-in-times-square/">public lounge</a> than a park, the deck area sits at sidewalk level and expands the public space into the street so passersby can sit down and take a load off.

Conveniently located next to both a JJ Bean Coffee Roasters and a Starbucks, the park also expands the coffee shops' customer areas and encourages people to enjoy their daily fix and maybe even make a new friend.

Can't wait to see more cities work on exceptional <a href="http://inhabitat.com/tag/urban-public-space">urban public space</a> projects like this.

The red barricade like perimeter will definitely draw attention from drivers and hopefully eliminate any dangers from traffic.

The park during prefabrication off site.

Initial project proposal drawings.

Details of the modular park benches.