Car parks are one of those necessities of life which we seldom give a second thought to, until we have a problem like a scratched bumper from too tight a turn on the ramps. Car parks are hard to like. Too many have been dark, alienating and inhospitable places, obviously tagged on as afterthoughts. Design effort often seems to have focussed almost exclusively on other parts of a development, while little time has been spared for thinking about how car drivers will access it.
Not surprisingly, architectural awards for car parks have been few and far between, but that may be about to change. Our focus on car parks in this issue has revealed a new desire among clients for car parks that match the ambition seen elsewhere in their developments, by making a visual statement. Naturally enough, many are turning to steel as the best material to create the welcoming environments that they have identified as crucial to making a good first impression on visitors to shopping and leisure developments, and residential or business premises. As well as using steel architecturally, developers see the practical benefits, such as being able to provide the same number of car parking spaces in a smaller area than with concrete.
This is a market which at one time was dominated by in situ concrete, which often adds to the general drabness of the experience of visiting a car park. Pre cast enjoyed a brief vogue as labour problems turned some developers away from in situ. Steel was tried out now and again but not above five storeys, because of the perceived fire risk. But investment in discovering how fire actually behaves in car parks has removed that obstacle, and paint manufacturers have cut the cost of intumescent coatings dramatically. Tomorrow’s car parks will increasingly be steel car parks, and far more pleasant to use than what has gone before.
International lessons
Car parks are proving to another example of a market previously dominated by concrete, where the potential of steel to provide a superior product was not generally realised. The recipe for successfully increasing steel’s market penetration in such areas has been nearly perfected in the UK construction market – discover what the market needs; invest with industry partners in whatever has to be improved to make steel attractive in that market; further invest in technical education and marketing to make sure people know about it. As Derek Tordoff points out in his Comment this month, steel’s market share in the UK is often the envy of counterparts overseas.
None of these overseas steel industries are standing still however, and they are producing their own innovative ideas on how better to help the market realise the benefits of steel and ensure that the superior promise is delivered. We will report in later issues this year on new initiatives being devised to ensure that steel’s market penetration remains on an upward spiral.
Nick Barrett
Editor
March 2005 – Designers drive to steel car parks
Car parks are one of those necessities of life which we seldom give a second thought to, until we have a problem like a scratched bumper from too tight a turn on the ramps. Car parks are hard to like. Too many have been dark, alienating and inhospitable places, obviously tagged on as afterthoughts. Design effort often seems to have focussed almost exclusively on other parts of a development, while little time has been spared for thinking about how car drivers will access it.
Not surprisingly, architectural awards for car parks have been few and far between, but that may be about to change. Our focus on car parks in this issue has revealed a new desire among clients for car parks that match the ambition seen elsewhere in their developments, by making a visual statement. Naturally enough, many are turning to steel as the best material to create the welcoming environments that they have identified as crucial to making a good first impression on visitors to shopping and leisure developments, and residential or business premises. As well as using steel architecturally, developers see the practical benefits, such as being able to provide the same number of car parking spaces in a smaller area than with concrete.
This is a market which at one time was dominated by in situ concrete, which often adds to the general drabness of the experience of visiting a car park. Pre cast enjoyed a brief vogue as labour problems turned some developers away from in situ. Steel was tried out now and again but not above five storeys, because of the perceived fire risk. But investment in discovering how fire actually behaves in car parks has removed that obstacle, and paint manufacturers have cut the cost of intumescent coatings dramatically. Tomorrow’s car parks will increasingly be steel car parks, and far more pleasant to use than what has gone before.
International lessons
Car parks are proving to another example of a market previously dominated by concrete, where the potential of steel to provide a superior product was not generally realised. The recipe for successfully increasing steel’s market penetration in such areas has been nearly perfected in the UK construction market – discover what the market needs; invest with industry partners in whatever has to be improved to make steel attractive in that market; further invest in technical education and marketing to make sure people know about it. As Derek Tordoff points out in his Comment this month, steel’s market share in the UK is often the envy of counterparts overseas.
None of these overseas steel industries are standing still however, and they are producing their own innovative ideas on how better to help the market realise the benefits of steel and ensure that the superior promise is delivered. We will report in later issues this year on new initiatives being devised to ensure that steel’s market penetration remains on an upward spiral.
Nick Barrett
Editor