British Parking Awards: Best Refurbishment finalists

Best Car Park Refurbishment of the Year

Concrete Repairs Ltd (CRL): Queensgate Shopping Centre, Peterborough
The £7.5m refurbishment of four multi-storey car parks at Hammerson’s Queensgate shopping centre is one of largest car park refurbishment contracts to be awarded in the UK.

John Drewett, marketing director, CRL: The Queensgate Shopping Centre opened in 1982 and features 90 retail outlets with parking for 2,300 cars, across four separate car parks. Three of the multi-storey car parks are integral to the shopping centre with the fourth one linked via pedestrian footbridge access.

The project involves each of the car parks completely closed during refurbishment. CRL has had to ensure that the works within the time frames specified by the client.

Due to the size of the project it is phased over a four year period. The first two phases which comprised Claire Green, completed in 2011, followed by Royce Red in September 2012 .

During the agreed phased handover of Royce Red, CRL gave level 7 and upwards, back to Queensgate at the end of July 2012, to help the shopping centre accommodate the extra traffic created during the school holidays. During this period great care had to be taken to ensure all the general public and traffic were totally segregated from the lower levels during the remainder of the works.

Both Claire Green and Royce Red are fully operational. Phase three, on Carvell Blue, commenced in January 2013. This will be followed by Perkins Yellow, with full completion set for 2014.

Doncaster Metropolitan Borough Council & Muse Developments: Civic Quarter Car Park
An intimidating, run-down 1960s town centre multi-storey has been given a new lease of life as part of a major regeneration project.

Alan McBride, project manager, Muse Developments: The Civic Quarter Car Park (CQCP) is an 850-space multi storey car park, over five levels, located in the heart of Doncaster town centre within the new Civic Quarter regeneration development.

This iconic ‘Modern Movement’ building constructed in the 1960’s, originally comprised a public bus and coach station at ground floor level with four levels of parking above.

During the course of 2011/2102 the Civic Quarter Car Park (formerly known as the Southern Bus Station MSCP), was extensively refurbished as part of a wider £300m Civic Quarter regeneration scheme being undertaken by Doncaster MBC, working in partnership with Muse Developments. The CQCP refurbishment works have transformed the appearance and operation of this car park and greatly enhanced customer satisfaction.

Prior to its refurbishment, the CQCP was a dark, intimidating, unsafe environment that attracted anti-social behaviour and rough sleepers. It had fallen into a state of disrepair and was being used by a dwindling number of customers and Doncaster council staff.

Following its refurbishment, the CQCP has been transformed into a modern high quality, bright, safe and secure car park.

Hartlepool Borough Council: Middleton Grange Basement Car Park
A dark and dingy underground car park has been transformed into a well used facility by a local authority working on a very tight budget.

Phil Hepburn, parking services manager, Hartlepool Borough Council: The Basement Car Park is a 114-space underground car park owned and managed by Hartlepool Borough Council which provides an integral link to the main indoor shopping centre of Middleton Grange.

In recent years the car park has had regular minimal repair maintenance, but visually looked dated. In conjunction with the shopping centre the council looked to identify and prioritise the needs of its customers and client base. In addition to issue with the car park’s deck surfaces, the lighting, walkways and general visual appearance of the site also needed to be addressed.

The site’s popularity as a taxi-pick up and collection point also required the formalisation of vehicle queuing arrangements to prevent obstruction to access and vehicle circulation paths.

Customer surveys had suggested that the number of registered disabled clientele catered for at the car park would benefit from additional spaces.

Makers Construction: Castlegate Shopping Centre Car Park, Stockton-on-Tees
A 40-year-old multi-storey which was facing demolition has been rescued by a project which has transformed it into a key destination in Stockton-on-Tees.

Peter Cowlard, technical services director, Makers Construction: The Castlegate Centre Car Park is the main parking facility for this busy town centre shopping area and local markets. Built nearly 40 years ago, the car park had suffered from neglect, with only minimal investment in palliative repairs.

The result was a decaying structure in need of substantial works. The £1m-plus project has seen the car park completely refurbished by Makers Construction.

Works have included renovation of the internal environment and the exterior façade. Works included the strengthening of structural columns and substantial concrete repairs. Structural degradation issues have been addressed by use of a cathodic protection system, application of deck coatings and anti-carbonation decorative coatings.

The car park also has new signage, lighting and pay-on-foot equipment.

Matrix Solutions UK & Exeter City Council: John Lewis Car Park, Exeter
The arrival of John Lewis in the centre Exeter inspired the city council to upgrade and rebrand a run-down 1970s multi-storey car park.

Tim Whitaker, director, Matrix Solutions: Exeter City Council owns and manages 27 car parks, of which five are multi-storeys. The King William Street multi-storey was built in the 1970s and provides parking for 429 vehicles. Various repairs have been carried out previously to maintain the structure of the car park, but a major refurbishment was planned to significantly improve the appearance of the car park and prolong the reinforced concrete structure for the next 20 years.

The works undertaken included structural concrete repairs, replacement deck waterproofing, protective coatings to exposed concrete surfaces, installation of a new pay-on-foot system and refurbishment of the main stairwells.

In addition, the John Lewis Partnership committed to the refurbishment and fit-out of an adjacent building that had previously been occupied by Debenhams. It was decided to re-name the multi-storey the John Lewis Car Park in order to better reflect its close proximity to the store and to direct people where to park, thus reducing traffic congestion.

The improvements placed great emphasis on community engagement, including a number of residential areas, schools and a mosque.

Q-Park: Chinatown, London
Q-Park has invested around £2m in upgrading a car park which serves the bustling Chinatown community and the West End’s theatre land.

John Denton, head of sales marketing, Q-Park: Q-Park’s focus on quality has resulted in the entire Chinatown facility undergoing a radical transformation. Works have included the redecoration of all walls and ceilings and skid-resistant polyurethane coatings. All walls painted to emulate a clean and bright atmosphere whilst being easy to maintain.

Additional and replacement lighting has been introduced throughout. All signage replaced and dual language introduced, with text in English and Chinese.

Speed gates have been installed to allow secure vehicle entry and exit from the car park 24 hours a day. The car park now has new pay-on-foot systems.

A glass-fronted lodge has been installed to increase the level of Q-Park safety within the site and create a welcoming lobby environment in which customers can find the Q-Park parking hosts.