Automated or robotic car parks have not done well in the UK up to now. I don’t want to revisit the debate about the pros and cons of automated versus self park; the simple fact is that, in the UK robotic car parks have not really caught on. Now however what is probably the biggest robotic car park in the UK has opened in the Cube in Birmingham. The car park which uses a system designed by German providers Wohr has a capacity of 339 cars and cost a reported £2m. It is located 20 meters below the Cube development.
Apparently the developers opted for a robotic solution when a conventional solution was ruled out because the space needed for a ramp would have had too big an impact on the ground floor lettable retail space. The car park is not a public facility since users have to first possess a personal tag to gain access; it is claimed that any car can be recovered within 2 minutes.
The Cube is a multi-use development with shops, offices, a rooftop restaurant, a hotel and apartments. In March this year joint developers Birmingham Development Company Limited and Build ability Limited went into administration.
Peter Guest
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