Is too much attention being paid to the aesthetics of car park design today? Even in our own magazines, Parking Today and Parking World, we reward this behavior by featuring the coolest looking parking lots on the covers. Although I am a fan of cutting-edge designs, my recent interview with Mace Group, the designers of the massive parking lot at the new Mirdif City Centre shopping mall in Dubai, reminded me what the priorities of car park design should be.
"Our most important consideration when designing the mall car park was ease of use," says Mark Kennedy, Project Director of Mace Group. "The hard work should be in designing and constructing the car park, not using it. To have a great looking structure in place and an eye-catching interior may be desirable, but it's no good if people can't find their way around easily."
"We want to make sure that our customers only walk a short distance to get into the mall, that their vehicle is easy to find and that the entrances and exits are clearly marked," Kennedy continues.
The parking at Mirdif City Centre provides capacity for 7,000 cars spread over an area of 272,000 square meters. The mall is expected to open in 2010, but the car park is more than 90% complete.
"Once inside the car park, provisions have been made for 17 mall entrances to lead shoppers into the mall and the signage is a simple mix of color-coded levels and row numbers to assist in easy recall of where their vehicles are parked."
Kennedy also notes that ease of use starts with access and egress to and from the parking lot. Parking at Mirdif City Centre offers 12 entries and exits that lead visitors in and out of different levels of the car park.
While aligning car park design to the look of the building is not a bad idea, aligning the car park to the functionality of the build seems like a great idea.
Pete Goldin
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