Car Park Costs – how much did you say??
Occasionally, people inquire as to the costs involved in building a car park. This is not an easy question to answer as there are many variables to consider — Is it at-grade or multi-storey, CBD or regional, number of bays, which state and city?….I rest my case! Fortunately, there are excellent resources available for a […]
Andrew Morse speaks about parking facilities standards at the next AITPM Event
ptc. has a long relationship with AS 2890 (the Australian Standards for parking facilities) since it was co-authored by George Burton, our senior car park designer (now retired). Partner Andrew Morse is on the committee reviewing and updating the standards and will be one of the presenters of the NSW | AS 2890 Series Technical […]
Melbourne Skyfarm – another example of repurposing car parks
This proposed development, Melbourne Skyfarm, will transform the 2,000 sqm rooftop area of the Siddeley St car park into an urban farm, adding greenery to Melbourne’s landscape. Moreover, Skyfarm aims to create awareness about urban farming, which can absorb heat, improving the temperature in city centres. These green islands can also benefit animal life by […]
Parking and Traffic Studies for The Finery, Mirvac
ptc. is proud to have provided parking and traffic engineering advice to Mirvac for The Finery, a residential development comprising six buildings and 227 units located at 13-17 Lachlan Street in Waterloo. Our involvement in this project started with the preparation of a parking and traffic assessment to accompany the Development Application (DA) to the […]
No more minimum parking requirements in Rio
Rio de Janeiro, the second most populous Brazilian city, recently approved new building codes that will eliminate the minimum parking requirements, which were established in 1967 and mandated one car park space per housing unit. They will be replaced with a parking maximum of one space per four housing units. It is now mandatory to […]
Car Park in London becomes a cultural centre
A multi-storey car park in London has been repurposed into an art centre. Levels 7 and 8 of the Peckham Car Park now accommodate Bold Tendencies, a not-for-profit organisation promoting a mix of contemporary art, orchestral music, opera and architectural projects. The site is open to the general public and has a stylish café on […]
An urban farm in a basement car park
Last week our team visited the car park under the EY building (200 George St, Sydney) but this wasn’t a regular site inspection to observe traffic flow issues or to verify the car park occupancy rates. We were there to learn about Cultivate, a pop-up urban farm initiative by Mirvac and Farmwall. In the face […]
Hong Kong car park prices – how much is too much?
That Hong Kong is the most expensive place in the world to purchase a residential property it is widely known but have you thought how much it costs to own a parking space there? According to Reuters, car park spaces have tripled in value between 2010 and 2017. This is a remarkable growth on its […]
Engaging branded experiences
It’s easy to think of branded experiences as initiatives promoting a company’s products and as an opportunity to sell. However, a well-designed branded experience goes a lot further than a monologue about the brand and its products and services. The main objective should be to translate the brand into meaningful and engaging experiences. Therefore, it’s […]
Residential Car Sharing
Developers are always thinking of different ways to promote new mobility concepts for their projects, adapting designs and features to new technologies and social behaviours. Some of those initiatives have been reported in the Wayfinding Forum Blog, as the car-free office building and the bike apartments. Adding to those examples is a new residential building […]
Car-free developments
Architects are developing creative and new designs to support different lifestyles as a response to consumers who value sustainability and are willing to give up car ownership. In the Wayfinding Forum Blog, we have posted about innovative designs, such as Oslo Solar and Cykelhuset, which illustrate those kinds of initiatives. Oslo Solar is a new…...
Design & fashion make their way to the car park
Ask anyone about the definition of a car park, and you will instantly hear words such as: congestion, nightmare, traffic, expensive, hard to use or perhaps “I can never find my car”. But has anyone ever responded with “they are the best place to hold a fashion show”? Perhaps not. Earlier this year the British […]
Adelaide Car Park Value Hits the Roof
As reported in the Financial Review, a six level car park close to one of Adelaide’s major entertainment and higher education areas has sold to a local private buyer for $27 million. Located close to Rundle Mall and the University of Adelaide, the car park enticed a high level of interest due to the potential […]
Car parks are hot property in Sydney, too
As reported in the Property Observer, a spirited auction for an undercover Potts Point car space fetched $264,000. This price reflected around $10,000 per square metre. In an area that has been described as the toughest in Australia to find a car space – with almost 25,000 residents living in a 1.89 square kilometre, restaurant mecca […]
Cost to build a car park- and more!
Read the 2019 updated version of this post. Occasionally, people inquire as to what it costs to build a car park (this week, in fact). This is not an easy question to answer quickly, as there are many variables to consider — Is it at-grade or multi-storey, CBD or regional, number of bays, which […]
Creepy car parks – no thanks!
In terms of parking structures, it is likely that every person who drives will have at least three ready examples of “really bad car parks”, because unfortunately, they are commonplace. Whether they are “bad” in terms of design, signage, ease of use, traffic flow, safety or amenity (sometimes all of the above), these are the […]
London: Cycling now considered mass transport
Transport for London’s new Cycling Design Standards Policy begins with the words “Cycling is now mass transport and must be treated as such”. Councils in London boroughs are now requiring developers to integrate this approach into their development plans. A recent example is the 250 City Road project which was required to include ample parking […]
New York: Parking Grand Central style
So you’re spending a lazy Sunday in New York browsing through the options for an apartment upgrade and you come across 443 Greenwich in Tribeca, New York offering (among the “amenities”) a car park inspired by Grand Central Station complete with valet parking, convenient bike racks and a dedicated entry ramp for cyclists. The following […]
Turning New York City’s parking lots into affordable housing
Photo Credit: Stefan Georgi/Flickr With New York City facing increasing pressure on housing affordability, the NYC based Institute for Public Architecture called for creative ideas and solutions for affordable housing. One of the most intriguing ideas came from fellows of the Institute Sagi Golan, Miriam Peterson and Nathan Rich, which targets the abundance of parking […]
2014 Australia and New Zealand Green Building Market Report
Photo Credit: Sourceable.net The 2014 Green Building market report for Australia and New Zealand has just been released. Between March and May 2014, 133 developers, architects, builders and subcontractors in Australia and 110 in New Zealand provided feedback on their views and experiences with green building. Findings include: In Australia: 90% of respondents have been […]
Rise of the elevator car park
The evolution and adoption of the automobile as an everyday necessity is one of the most impacting of the 20th Century. In 1886 the ‘modern car’ was developed by Karl Benz and only 22 years later in 1908 the first Model T became available to the mass population. Move ahead only 20 years and the […]
A Parisian car park challenge
The Peninsula Hotel, situated in the heart of Paris was built in 1908, one of its many claims to fame being the site where George Gershwin wrote “An American in Paris” in 1928. It took two years to build and has recently undergone a four year restoration to bring it back to its former glory. […]
Adelaide parking tax quashed
The recent introduction of South Australia’s controversial parking tax was voted down in Parliament last week, reports ABC news. An Opposition amendment to remove the tax was passed with the support of both Family First and Independent MPs. This was welcome news for the Property Council of Australia and the State Coalition to Repeal the […]
Car park conversion to luxury apartments
Melbourne developer, Grocon, is breaking down the miserable reputation of the car park with a rather unusual project. The development, known as QV8, is converting part of a car park into luxury apartments, as reported by news.com.au. Located on the top floor of the car park in the QV building on Lonsdale Street, the finished […]
Hefty profit from Melbourne car park sale
Leigh Seymour made headlines last week with the announcement of the sale of a Melbourne car park for $40 million. As reported in The Australian, the Victoria University car park at 300 Flinders Street was purchased by Seymour in November 2011 for $28.2 million. Since that time, property improvements and a change of operator with […]
Entry point into the Sydney Property Market?
If you’re one of the thousands of Sydneysiders that feel the property market is out of reach, this story from Australian Business Traveller will either depress or delight you! Here’s your chance to own a plot of prime Sydney real estate for only $57,500. Not that long ago (OK, maybe 25 years), that sum might […]
Sydney car park sells for $8.05 Million
A short and sweet article in The Australian appeared this week regarding the sale of the car park at One Dixon Street, Chinatown by Hyperion Properties to a Singapore buyer. The 93-space car park sold for just over $8 million, which puts it at approximately $80,500 per bay. Interestingly, this same property traded in 2007 […]
Commercial parking minimums in Latin America
Still in Colombia, take a look at this commentary from Reinventing Parking on a new parking policy guide that was launched last week in Bogotá. From the data provided, it is evident that there is a distinct split across South American countries in parking space provisions for new commercial buildings. The graph shows Mexico, Brazil […]
Adelaide parking levy faces stiff opposition
CBD parking levies are still a hot topic of discussion around Australia following last week’s blog reporting on the Victorian government’s plans for an increased parking tax. This week has seen South Australia’s Opposition ramping up its fight against their state government’s planned parking levy for Adelaide’s CBD. The controversial plan is fast becoming a […]
Car parking levy in Melbourne on the rise
An increased parking levy is set to be included in Victoria’s state budget next Tuesday. The Age reports that property owners are currently charged $950 annual per long term (all day) parking space, however this will rise to $1300 p.a and will be extended to include short term parking as well. The levy will now […]