By Daniel L. Helmick, PE
If you build it, they will park. Visitors want to get to their destination quickly and easily, without confusion, particularly in a hospital setting. All too often, erecting a parking garage can become a costly afterthought. The right planning and design expertise from the beginning is key in constructing an aesthetically attractive, highly functional, cost-effective parking garage.
Here’s what to consider when planning a parking garage for a hospital or medical facility:
Choose a fully integrated design-build company: A vertically integrated company that offers in-house design, manufacturing and construction services can lower overall construction costs while ensuring that the parking garage is both functional and aesthetic. Companies who routinely design and build parking garages understand the process and often have years of experience allowing them to identify what works and what doesn’t to ensure a durable, low maintenance structure with reduced lifecycle costs. At FINFROCK, the largest design design-builder of parking garages, we have erected more than 300 precast parking structures across the country, and we have a team that intricately understands how to create a cost-effective hospital parking structure that offers the best function for the available space and budget.
Select an expert that works well with other contractors: Companies that have a strong expertise in building parking garages know how to work well with on-site general contractors and architects. Hiring a company to focus solely on the parking allows other design and construction teams to focus on the main construction event, such as building a hospital.
Get a guaranteed price up front: In working with a company that specializes in delivering functional and economical hospital parking structures, pricing is often guaranteed before the completion of the design documents, which means construction schedules can be accurately predicted, costly change orders are avoided and the need for time consuming redesign periods are eliminated.
Plan for minimal disruption of your customers: Experienced contractors should work to create a logistics plan that minimizes road closures and interference with customer and employee access while keeping their team on the least traveled and least critical streets to the project. Choosing a precast system for a parking project also requires a smaller footprint. Structural components are manufactured off-site and delivered in time to be erected, allowing for minimized onsite construction.
Consider technology for efficiency and security: Efficient parking is an imperative part of any hospital system and building a structure that relies on the newest technologies to guide visitors to parking spaces with ease is advisable. Parking guidance systems and sensors that can track and indicate the number of spaces available ensure drivers will be parked safely and conveniently. Additional technology requirements might also include access control, security, revenue collection, charging stations and photovoltaic panels. Implementing these technologies can generate additional revenue for the venue and create a better user experience.
Design with flexibility for the future: With the increase in demand for more flexible and personalized commercial and institutional spaces, the need for multi-use facilities has risen across the country. Designing a well-planned system with flexibility is critical. This process will help identify elements such as acceptable walking distances, handicap accessibility, the willingness to use rideshare hubs and access to off-site parking, and the need for enhanced wayfinding in parking garage systems. Experienced design-build companies have a vast range of capabilities to create structures that seamlessly blend with the surrounding buildings, integrate mixed-uses and meet architectural requirements to disguise the parking elements of the structure.
Think about sustainability: Parking facilities that include sustainable and green options promote cost-savings and long-term value. For example, in some projects we worked with, we installed solar roof panels to provide power to the building and offset energy costs. As corporations pay more attention to their carbon footprint, there is greater demand for designs to produce better air flow, use LED lighting and add electric vehicle charging stations. In addition, the type of material chosen for a parking garage is crucial to the lifecycle and maintenance costs of the building. Precast/prestressed concrete building systems offer a resilient solution that results in added value and longevity.
Effective integration of parking into long-term hospital and medical facility planning creates an environment that provides for superior customer service and satisfaction.
Choosing a design-build partner with the qualifications and experience to deliver what building clients want without interference in daily operations is the first step on the road to success.
Daniel L. Helmick, PE, Executive Vice President, Project Development at FINFROCK, can be reached at dhelmick@finfrock.com.
