Volvo New Garage
Award
Runner Up
2021 Volvo The New Garage Challenge
The Brief
Volvo Cars is challenging conceptual thinkers, design thought leaders, and ultimately all Canadians to re-imagine the often-neglected garage space which, following stay-at-home conditions, has become a new frontier in design. With the launch of the XC40 Recharge – Volvo’s first pure electric compact SUV – it’s time to re-examine old ways of thinking and create a new garage that brings to life the philosophies of Scandinavian design, livability, and protecting the future of the planet.
The Mainspring
Our Place to Recharge
Mainspring [noun]: the principal motive power; the impelling cause.
“The Mainstream is an engaging response based on a thoughtful understanding of the future of transportation and what the electric car can offer.”
The Concept
As single family neighbourhoods in urban centers densify, multiple families living on one property becomes increasingly common. With the high cost of parking and reduced commuting due to more people working from home, car sharing makes simple economic sense. Volvo’s XC40 Recharge is a sophisticated, environmentally progressive and family friendly SUV that meets a wider range of transportation needs than the average commercial car sharing service. Combined with the equally multifunctional and accessible Mainspring garage - which frees other garages for activities that mentally and physically recharge - families can pool resources to reach a higher quality of life, together.
“A remarkable piece of storytelling, Mainspring proposes a one - maybe the best - future made available to us through EV technology.”
How the Mainspring builds on the Volvo On Call feature
As we transition to cleaner modes of transportation and more complete neighbourhoods, cars and garages no longer need to be associated with individual ownership and privilege. Instead, they can be seen as amenities to be shared with friends and family. Powered by the Volvo On Call car-sharing app, garage and car together become a community hub, for work or play. The traditional functions of the North American garage as a space for creativity, leisure, and refuge are preserved— elevated, even—with one or two XC40 Recharges enabling a host of shared experiences for multiple families.
How the Mainspring keeps sustainability top of mind
Neither residence nor office, public nor private, the Mainspring garage is the driving force behind a network of “third spaces”—a block-wide collective of studios, home offices, workshops, gyms, breweries, and more. Its vaulted ceilings, bright interiors, and waterproof recycled rubber flooring make it a welcoming gathering place for all, and its roof is designed to collect rainwater for carwashing and hydroponic gardening. Like the Volvo XC40 Recharge, the garage is both elegant and practical. Together they declare: our future’s best chance is one where we give back as much as we take.
“A bold, rich and future-oriented project”
“Using an impressive systems-based approach to rethinking the garage, the judges admired how the design created a conversation around the future of mobility and community, especially in urban areas.”