After 50-years of servicing one of the busiest areas of Leeds city centre, the Merrion Centre Car Park – the first multi-storey car park the UK – was earmarked for refurbishment by CitiPark’s parent company Town Centre Securities PLC.
The car park was built as a cast in-situ reinforced concrete frame bearing precast concrete deck planks. After 50 years of service the structure was in a poor condition.
A £13m refurbishment project was undertaken which would last 36 weeks, bringing the car park back to its former glory and give the Leeds community a state of the art parking facility.
The type of barrier protection used within a car park is a key architectural consideration, so upgrading what was now an out-of-date rigid post and spring steel barrier network with a more sustainable, modern system was a priority for CitiPark. A-SAFE, whose world-leading array of flexible, high-strength, low-maintenance polymer-based barriers capable of absorbing vehicle impacts, while simultaneously protecting the impacting vehicle and preventing floor damage, were brought on board.
But this would not be a straightforward installation for A-SAFE.
First, the car park’s newly reinforced substrate required a specifically low load anchorage system, which meant the in-house A-SAFE Research & Development team needed to design a special base plate for their barriers.
Second, it was essential that the Merrion Car Park remained open to the public at all times. This necessitated a strategic dialogue with the construction contractor, GMI, who would close off separate levels of the car park and roll-in the A-SAFE installation team into these areas when required. The programme lasted from May to November 2014, with A-SAFE on-site only during these specific windows of opportunity, advised by GMI. This level-by-level strategy worked, with the car park managing to remain open and operational.
In all, A-SAFE installed over 1,100m of combined Car Park and Pedestrian Barriers with anti-climb mesh infill in the Merrion Car Park. Naturally, all complete installations carry a degree of satisfaction, but playing a part in the transformation of this landmark was a particularly gratifying experience for A-SAFE – and one that worked on every level.
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