Airpark Glasgow gets the special Q-Park treatment

The old building was completely demolished and rebuilt from scratch in line with Q-Park’s first-rate design and finish standards. In addition to the entire 4000-space car park having a totally new look and feel, the facility also offers additional benefits to customers such as car valeting and servicing on request.

Drivers now access the car park under a smart covered section and pull up outside a stylish reception area. This has been designed to be far more compact and efficient and has been purpose-built for speed and ease of use. It also incorporates a staff office and a staff welfare area to make business operations more efficient.

On arrival, Q-Park Parking Hosts usher drivers and their luggage into the reception check-in zone, then a Q-Park branded courtesy coach transports them to the airport terminal. In line with Q-Park’s emphasis on a fast, convenient, customer-focused service, the entire process from car to airport coach now takes normally five minutes only, with just a ten minute ride on the coach to the terminal.

Airpark (Glasgow) Ltd was acquired by Q-Park in January last year and is the largest off-airport parking site for Glasgow Airport. Some 500,000 parking days are sold per year, with customers parking for an average of ten days. The car park employs over 20 staff on site and provides 24 hour, closely monitored high-level security.

Waterloo Street car park short-listed for EPA award

Q-Park’s Waterloo Street car park in Glasgow is one of just three finalists in the running for the European Parking Association’s (EPA) prestigious Best Renovated Car Park in Europe Award 2005.

The EPA awards committee inspected the Waterloo Street car park on June 13th, and will be carrying out similar assessments of the other two finalist sites. One of these is another Q-Park car park – Grand Parade in Cork, southern Ireland – and the other, Vinci’s Champs Elysee car park in Paris.

Waterloo Street underwent a L3.5 million renovation programme completed in November last year and incorporates some exceptional features. Uniquely, the car park’s exterior was clad with 12 kilometres of louvered Siberian Larch wood making it one of Glasgow’s most striking commercial buildings. The car park also includes a brand new front-of-house, fully glazed, air-conditioned parking hosts’ lodge housing CCTV monitoring and IT operations; and state-of-the-art parking technology including proximity card facilities and a node system to enable 24 hour car park access.

Since being shortlisted for the award, further improvements have been made to add weight to the submission. These include enhanced external signage and dramatic improvements to the entry and exit areas, which now incorporate a new suspended ceiling and new lighting to give a more superior look and feel.

The aim of the EPA’s biennial European Parking Awards is to promote and recognise excellence in car parking operations. Assessment criteria for the ‘renovated car parks’ category includes: overall design concept, construction, use of materials and quality of finish, layout and parking bay sizes, safety and security, lighting, cleanliness and maintenance, accessibility by car and on foot, parking equipment, supervision and management, quality of service and relationship with the surrounding townscape.

The winner will be announced at the EPA’s Annual Congress, which is being held in Geneva in September.