Whether you are running a store or have a warehouse, having parking is a must today. For retail businesses, parking for their customers is important, and for wholesale businesses, loading bay parking is crucial. But when it comes to designing a parking lot, it’s not as simple as it might sound. You can’t just draw a few straight lines and call it parking. Instead, you need to consider many factors like space-saving design, a proper entry and exit system, and well-spaced parking blocks equipped with the right signs. To understand parking design better, read this blog till the end.
Understanding Common Parking Rules
Before we start looking at the key factors while designing parking spaces, let’s first look at the rules about parking. Here are some rules related to public and commercial parking spaces, often enforced through clearly visible traffic signages.
Public Parking Rules
Public parking rules are set by local authorities to regulate the usage of public parking spaces. These rules include:
- The fair use of parking spaces minimises disputes about fares and accessibility.
- Unobstructed traffic flow due to the parking with proper entries and exits.
- Adherence to the parking-related norms like time limits, parking fees, no parking zones, etc., is often communicated through clear signage supported by professional printing.
These are the public parking rules that you must adhere to to ensure that your parking is legally valid.
Loading Bay Parking Rules
Unlike public parking, loading bay parking is different. A loading bay is primarily used for business loading and unloading of goods. Compared to public parking, there are certain differences in the rules. For example, the entry and exit must be designed in a way that the traffic remains unobstructed as the trucks come and go from the parking. You should also adhere to the time restrictions on commercial vehicles, clear signage—typically supported by high-quality printing, etc. Apart from these rules, the public parking rules also apply to commercial parking spaces.
Now let’s discuss the parking standards and parking space design guidelines, which will help you in designing your parking.
Four Parking Design Guidelines to Follow for the Best Parking Design Layout
When designing parking, here are the four key parking guidelines to follow to make sure that your parking is efficient and follows all the rules:
- Traffic Flow: Create an unobstructed entry to your parking, and the same goes with the exit to ensure that the traffic flow remains unobstructed.
- Safety Measures: Add the important parking elements for the safety of pedestrians and the drivers like lighting, mirrors, pedestrian crossings, etc.
Space Optimisation: Choose the parking space size based on the type of traffic you expect. Here are the commonly used parking dimensions standard in the UK.
Standard Car Parking Space Dimensions
| Standard car spaces | 8.5 to 9 feet wide, 18 to 20 feet long |
| Compact car spaces | 7.5 to 8 feet wide, 15 to 16 feet long |
| Handicap spaces | 8 feet wide and a 5-foot access aisle adjacent to parking |
Apart from these guidelines, you should also adhere to guidelines for handicap parking spaces, like adding ramps near parking to the main building entrance, putting signage for their dedicated parking slots, etc.
Role of Parking Signs in an Efficient Parking Design
In a parking design, parking signs play an important role in flawless communication and maintaining traffic. Parking signs like way out, way in, disabled parking only, etc, allow you to make your parking more accessible and easy to use. Not only public parking, but parking signs are also useful in commercial parking, like “No Parking – Loading Zone,” to ensure that no vehicle parks illegally in your loading bay.
At Foamex, we create such parking signs and many more like custom signs to help you organise your parking. Not only parking signs, but we also offer custom traffic signage like no parking to put around your shops so that no one parks illegally around your premises. So, to get the best and high-quality parking signs for your parking, browse Foamex today.
Conclusion
Parking spaces should always be made very organised, be it a public parking lot or a commercial one. With the above guidelines, you can create the best parking for your business. But to make sure that your parking is efficient, don’t forget to add the Foamex parking signs.
Karishma
An enthusiastic Graphic Designer professional with strong communication and organisational skills, who is passionate about creating and developing innovative ideas with the client to help them get their business noticed. I work to the highest standards and have an excellent eye for detail with skills in design and organisation. I am a dependable and productive worker whose honesty and integrity provides effective leadership and builds excellent relationships. I enjoy innovatively…
Apr 07 2025
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