It's a crazy idea, isn't it? Not according to Mark Pearson, founder and managing director of Quadriga, who is looking at new ways that shopping centre owners can sweat their assets.

"We are looking at putting sports surfaces on the top decks of car parks, with a view to improving the 24/7 revenue of the car park," says Pearson. "For example, tennis courts and five-a-side football pitches, which get people to go up to level 10 until midnight. You could charge £2.50 to £3 an hour and get 50 to 60 cars up there, where it could otherwise be empty from 6pm."

Pearson points out that the top deck of a car park is the most expensive to maintain due to waterproofing and drainage, and yet it generates the least revenue because fewer people park there.

"You could maybe lease the top level out to a club, which will then pay for the maintenance so the operator is getting additional revenue in rent for the floor and also in additional parking revenue because there is another reason to go to the shopping centre," he explains. "We are trying to get an operator to do one in a trial area. It will come because shopping centres regard it as an asset."

But the ideas don't stop there. Quadriga's artificial grass solutions mean it can create nice places for customers to relax and it also believes there is a lot of scope for building restaurants on the top deck of car parks.

"There is less and less green space in city centres generally," says Pearson. "A lot of car parks have fantastic skyline views from the top deck, such as here in Slough, as well as in Bangor, Newcastle, Lincoln and Edinburgh, but no one ever goes on the roof because it's awful. But if we put a nice roof garden up there with a nice restaurant, people will go. It's just taking the concept of the Oxo Tower in London to the next level."

Founded by Pearson 15 years ago, Quadriga discovered a specialist niche in car park refurbishment and can take on most car park-related jobs, from conceptual design to procurement and through to m&e, including structural repair, lighting, facade restoration, pay-on-foot machines, white lining and waterproofing.

bay guidance

Starting out purely doing concrete repairs, Quadriga has come a long way since 1991. "We originally sub-contracted out and took more in-house as time went on," says Pearson. "All of a sudden, you're a reasonably placed player in the car park refurbishment market, almost providing a one-stop shop."

Pearson works in partnership with a number of important market players, including Triflex, his preferred supplier of waterproof membrane systems, Designa, which Quadriga partners on pay-on-foot systems, and Signal Park, which provides bay guidance systems - something Pearson reckons most car parks will have installed in the future.

"Problems with traffic flow and congestion is a common issue we come across in car parks," says Pearson. "People who build car parks just assume that people drive around until they find a space. People want guidance and to be told where to park, and that's why we think this bay guidance is the future.

"Go anywhere in Spain, Germany, America, France, Switzerland or Ireland and you have these systems in place. Virtually every new car park in Ireland has bay guidance.

"It's so simple, but the simple ideas are often the best ideas. It costs £250 a bay but it will improve footfall by 10 per cent so it pays for itself very quickly. You can also introduce dead ends as a result and you can increase capacity by up to 20 per cent."

In addition to these benefits, with drivers finding spaces faster, the system helps reduce CO2 emissions and wear and tear on the car park.

underground

Taking a lead again from Europe, Pearson also believes we will increasingly see car parks built underground and over water to increase the footprint of the shopping centres themselves.

"There is an increased pressure on land so there is a bit of a move now for people to be forced underground as there are a lot of old buildings that have massive basement areas that are redundant," he says.

"There is a potential big market in going underground in existing structures. Many new-build shopping centres will inevitably go down before building up. A car park takes up a big footprint of a site so if it is underground there is more area left for the shops. That's the norm on the continent."

Building a car park on water is another option. "This may sound different but is great for expanding your site," he reveals. "The Albert Dock, for example, has fantastic shops all the way around it and if there was a parking scheme on there you would dramatically improve the footfall to the shops.

"Lincoln also has a car park next to a multiplex cinema and next to that is a dock area with just a few dinghies on it."

Pearson also looks to the European car parks for ideas on ambience. "In Spain, they all have music playing in the car parks. Why don't we have that? It makes the whole atmosphere better.

"And in France, they have perfumes spraying out. The car park design is much better too, with different designs to distinguish the different levels.

"That will come over here. With the likes of Vinci Park and Q-Park and other international operators, they are going to force the hands of the other UK-based operators into raising their game, which is great for us. We hope it happens."

Overall, Pearson believes it is an exciting time for car park owners, operators, designers and contractors as the potential going forward is, he says, enormous.

"Shopping centres, particularly with internet shopping, have to provide a high quality of service to attract shoppers, as it is just as easy for them to shop at home online," he says.

"You have to bring added value to the car parks. They are no longer just somewhere to park your car. It's got to be a much better experience.

"For example, NCP had a vending machine area and I thought it was a great idea that also enhanced the experience, but they never rolled it out to more than a dozen car parks. They have a massive asset and it's about maximising that."

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