A new multi-storey car park with more than 1,000 parking bays has received an award for its design.

Watford General Hospital picked up the Car Park Design honour at this year’s British Parking Awards.

The car park opened in April 2022 and was recognised by the judges for its improved disability access, quality of the construction, use of number plate recognition and contribution to carbon reduction.

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It has 1,465 bays, including more than 70 disabled spaces, over seven floors with lifts available to each level.

The design also includes a gently sloping ramp that leads closer to the hospital’s main entrance.  

Tracey Carter, chief nurse, said: “Coming to hospital can be stressful and we know that trying to find a parking space can add to that anxiety.

“The car park is the first part of the hospital that many patients encounter and so we are pleased that it is light, bright and easy to find and use.

“We are grateful to patients who worked with us on the design.”

The car park is next to land earmarked for the redeveloped Watford General Hospital and will link directly to the new building.

According to the trust, parking charges for the multi-storey car park are in line with local charges and other hospitals in the region. The first 30 minutes are free.

Watford Observer: The new car park has more than 1,000 spaces. The new car park has more than 1,000 spaces. (Image: Watford General Hospital)

Unlike with the ground level car park, the new site allows payment to be made at the machines near the lifts when visitors need to leave.

Number plate recognition is in operation and there are also information boards displaying the number of parking spaces available by floor.

NHS staff pay a subsidised rate linked to their salary and any money generated from the car park contributes to the parking facilities but is not sufficient to cover these costs completely.

In a bid to reduce carbon emissions there are more than 120 electric charging points to go live in early 2023 and a south-facing roof with solar panels generates up to 468 kw of low carbon energy a day.

The design award jointly recognised the NHS trust and its partners Fatkin, the architects, Kier, the developer and HUBER, the car park system provider.

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