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Q-Park Ossenmarkt is a parking facility with 350 parking spaces, situated close to the city centre of Groningen, the Netherlands and surrounded by historical houses from the 17th century.

It is the Netherlands’ first circular underground parking facility to feature a spiral shape, which provides easy routing for motorists and simplifies parking.

Our experience and care for historical centres was highly appreciated as the construction and excavation took place only a few metres from the historical buildings.

As we seek to be a preferred and recommended quality parking partner we invested in a unique air treatment system for fire protection and an artistic lighting system to enhance the public's well-being.

Striking design

This parking facility was ready for convenient and quality parking within 15 months and won in 2005 the first PPP Award (Parking Project Prize), which is an award for the most architecturally successful and functional parking facility in the Netherlands.

The jury praised the design in particular for its unique round shape that was inspired by the glacially over-consolidated Pot Clay found in the region. The advantage of the round shape is that visitors experience the car park as clear and very friendly.

Above ground, a beautiful, open and multifunctional square complements the local setting. The result is an elegant building that is both functional and architecturally sympathetic to its surroundings.

This car park has an easy internal routing, wide one-way traffic roadways, spacious angled parking spaces, as well as column-free parking.

Special round wall construction

• Protects the historical surroundings from strong vibrations

• Is 1m thick, 25m deep and 56m in diameter

• The lowest parking spaces are 10m under sea level

The ground conditions make underground construction in Groningen difficult and thus an ingenious system of augers was devised to ensure that the car park remains in a stable position on its foundations.