"One cannot get around Efaflex in Switzerland"

Peter Hossli (Chief Operating Officer of Skyline Parking AG)

Skyline Parking

Skyline Parking

Worldwide, space in cities is becoming a luxury. Adequate parking space is now considered almost unaffordable for many municipalities. Skyline Parking AG in Winterthur, Switzerland, has therefore specialized in custom-made automatic parking systems, especially for cities, airports, and car dealerships, which offer more parking spaces in the smallest possible area than conventional parking solutions. State-of-the-art technology, such as the high-speed folding gates EFA-SFT from Efaflex, ensures speed and safety during parking and unparking processes.

In April of this year, the Skyline Parking Autotower was inaugurated on the premises of Auto Züri West on Zürcherstrasse in Schlieren. This fully automatic car storage offers a completely new type of exhibition space. A multiple of cars can be displayed on the smallest footprint.
The round, approximately 22-meter-high metal tower with 128 parking spaces across eight floors offers car dealership customers a unique service when purchasing new or used vehicles. Within just one minute, the salesperson can present the desired car in the showroom, which is separated from the sales office only by a glass panel.

“Parking in and out of the systems takes no longer than a minute,” explains Peter Hossli, Chief Operating Officer (COO) of Skyline Parking AG. “However, the systems must have gates that do not take half a minute but can open or close within seconds. Efaflex is essential for such fast and reliable gates, which are indispensable in Switzerland.” The reliability and speed of operation were key factors in choosing the gates for Peter Hossli: “We cannot afford gate failures; they would paralyze the entire parking garage. Additionally, we needed gates that fit due to the very low curb in the gate openings.”

Another aspect of the gate selection was the strict safety requirements, which specify that, besides the actual gate, there must be an emergency exit door for people: The vehicle is parked in the entry cabin with video support, driven forward, and scanned by computer. It is then automatically transported away. The computer handles the careful parking process. As long as there is movement inside the cabin, the gates remain open. In case a driver or passenger wants to leave the vehicle and especially the cabin with the transport belt after the gates close, they can use an emergency exit door next to the gate. Exiting is even easier. After ordering via SMS or iPad, the car is ready in the exit cabin, facing outward.

On the opposite side of the round building base, another EFA-SFT gate closes an integrated car wash. Here, too, the fast opening and closing speeds are important, as the cars are automatically positioned into the car wash.

For Skyline Parking AG, the project in Schlieren serves as a reference system for potential customers worldwide. The company stands for award-winning, innovative, and efficient design of fully automatic parking systems, based on a variety of patented technologies and precise analysis of customer needs.

Compared to conventional parking garages, fully automatic systems require only 25 percent of the space and reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 80%. As a result, the company makes an outstanding contribution to optimizing parking space in inner cities and environmental protection. Vandalism and parking damage are virtually eliminated in these systems.

Efaflex also provides highly modern and energy-efficient high-speed doors for equally ambitious future projects, serving as system partners for entry and exit areas.