Designing a parking structure is challenging, since it consumes a large portion of the footprint but doesn’t generate revenue. People still own cars as their primary means of mobility—even in dense urban areas—and while car ownership may drop in the future, there is currently still a high demand for parking.
Architects face the challenge of designing solutions that meet parking demands but can be modified alongside other future design changes. One solution is an automated parking system that minimizes the building volume while maximizing the parking capacity and also provides a premium user experience using a mobile app.
What Is Automated Parking?
Automated parking systems consist of electromechanical infrastructure and a computer-controlled array of robots that park the cars autonomously. However, not all mechanical systems are fully automated. Mechanical parking systems typically fall into one of three categories:
- Manual Systems: Basic structures, used to double or triple the number of stalls in a space usually occupied by one car. Manually operated mechanical lifts raise cars and park them on the stacked platforms.
- Semi-Automated Systems: Stacking structures with two-dimensional (vertical and horizontal) movement. Cars remain in the same position while the platforms are moved up and down or left and right. Manual and semi-automated parking systems require the driver or attendant to maneuver the car into the system.
- Fully Automated Systems: These are machine operated, without human involvement. There are no ramps, turning radii, or door clearances needed, and no human beings need to walk inside the garage.
Benefits and Uses
Fully automated parking has three major benefits:
- Space Saving: Autonomous shuttles can fit cars into the right-sized spot, optimizing what would otherwise be wasted space. The elimination of ramps and pedestrian walkways further reduces the volume.
- Faster ROI: Reducing parking volume by 30% to 50% frees up space to revenue-generating uses. Automated parking requires lower excavation and sometimes eliminates it completely.
- Premium User Experience: Users of an automated parking system simply drop their car in a large bay room and leave. It’s a safe and secure environment of a valet parking without the valet. A mobile app enables users to call their car and control the entire parking process.
Case Study
One Park is a luxury condominium on the Hudson River boasting panoramic views of Manhattan. The development offers a modern living space that emphasizes cohesive design and simplicity. The creative vision includes an elegant entryway and most of the residential units offer unique skyline views.
Local building codes required more than 300 parking spaces, and to meet this requirement, conventional parking design would have consumed the entire site’s footprint which would have made the front of the building resemble a warehouse with three levels of parking (below, at, and above grade). An above-ground parking structure would have consumed the allowed floor area ratio (FAR) and limited the residential and amenities spaces.
Solution
With U-tron’s fully automated parking system, the number of parking spaces was increased to 323, and the automated parking design allowed the complete elimination of the parking podium, tucking the parking structure underneath the south residential tower. The compacted design freed up the FAR and allowed an increase in the number of residential units and amenity spaces.
To learn more about implementing a fully automated parking system, please visit utron-parking.com.
