Shropshire Star

Telford-based EFAFLEX contributes to £4.2m car park refurbishment

Telford-based industrial high-speed door manufacturer EFAFLEX has contributed to the award-winning £4.2 million refurbishment of a dilapidated car park.

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Ruskin Square car park in Croydon

The company was appointed as part of a project to breathe new life into the 1960s Ruskin Square car park in Croydon.

The refurbishment was submitted to the British Parking Awards, where judges described the project as “an example of how a car park can be reinvented rather than just refurbished”.

Potter Church & Holmes Architects, which along with lead contractor Lendlease, completed the overhaul on behalf of client Croydon Gateway Partnership.

Darren Turrell, managing director of EFAFLEX UK, said: “We were delighted to be a supplier on this project. The brief for the Ruskin Square was extremely clear; to breathe life, light and improve the functionality of this tired concrete frame building.

“Major improvements were needed regarding accessibility, safety and ensuring it not only met modern standards but was future proofed too.

“Increasingly as high-speed door designers and manufacturers we are being approached by building management and facilities companies as our product becomes more widely known. We’ve installed our car park specific high-speed performance doors at hotels, shopping malls, airports and commercial buildings.”

With the help of EFAFLEX, the Rushkin Square car park, previously a crime hotspot, has been secured at ground floor level.

Steven David Jones, architect at Potter Church & Holmes Architects, said: “As the architects on this project, our mission was to turn this car park that struggled in terms of design and functionality, into a facility of the future.

“EFAFLEX’s high-speed car parking doors, not only had the aesthetic appeal we wanted to create, but the functionality, high-speed opening and quality precision engineering all matched our requirements perfectly.

“Winning the BPA Award as well as a regional RCIS award was a privilege and a result which could only be achieved with a great team effort.”

Ruskin Square car park is arranged over 12 intermediate levels to accommodate 565-car parking bays.

Bolder graphics throughout, improved signage and low energy LED ambient lux lighting fittings were all incorporated into the new design.