How Was the Ultra-Modern and Smart Parking System of the MOL Headquarters Developed Together with the Parkl Team?

“The Office of the Future,” “The Greenest Office Building,” “The Smartest Building in the Country”. These are just a few quoted phrases that elevate even further the already monumental high-rise, which is not only the tallest building in Budapest but also in all of Hungary, and at the same time one of the most significant office development projects in recent years: the MOL Campus.

The 28-story building with a floor area of 86,000 square meters is equivalent to 12 football fields, but its robust size is not its only unique feature. The MOL Campus was built in the spirit of sustainability and, thanks to its innovative solutions, has successfully achieved the globally recognized LEED Platinum and BREEAM Excellent certifications.

The headquarters is home to more than 2,500 MOL employees, which is why great attention was paid already in the design phase to providing services that support colleagues’ comfort and efficient work. The company fine-tuned the smart service portfolio offered by the building based on international trends as well as the opinions and needs of its employees.

“Facing a project of this scale, the digital program team had two options: either develop all the functions in-house or seek out companies that lead in specific fields and involve them as experts in the joint development and implementation. We chose a hybrid solution.” – explained Dóra Alexa, Digital Program Manager of the MOL Campus.

In the case of parking management, MOL decided to rely on an already proven market solution, and we were delighted that they chose the Parkl team. But how did this collaboration unfold? Join us as we take you behind the scenes!

Parking as a Critical System of Office Buildings

When designing an office building, success is not only defined by meeting expectations for the interior office spaces. Mission-critical functions extend far beyond ensuring that elevators, revolving doors, and heating systems work properly. Few might think how crucial flawless operation is in the case of parking.

“The service developed by Parkl had to cover the complete operation of a nearly 1,000-space, four-level parking garage with 10 barriers, typically used most heavily during two peak periods – a short morning and afternoon interval. For MOL Campus, it was essential to select a system that had already been tested and proven to operate smoothly at several similar sites.” – said Péter Varga, Managing Director of MOL Campus.

Just imagine the chaos in Budapest traffic if the parking system of such a large-capacity garage were to fail on a Wednesday morning rush hour. While 1,000 MOL employees wait to drive into their workplace, the car line could cause a 4 km long congestion, stretching from Kopaszi Dam to Népliget, severely paralyzing traffic during peak hours.

“Since the opening of the headquarters on December 9, 2022, in about half a year, we have not encountered any serious errors that would have disrupted the parking system, even though at times the barriers must identify and admit 15 cars per minute. This proves that close collaboration with Parkl’s expert team during the design and development stages resulted in a rock-solid, stable system.” – added Péter Varga.

High Technological Demands Were No Obstacle

When Parkl’s experts and MOL Campus’s digital specialists first sat down, the most important question was the technology to be used. The common ground was clear from the start: both systems use Microsoft’s cloud service, Microsoft Azure. This made integration straightforward and also simplified the implementation of additional functions that arose during planning, such as freeing up fixed parking spaces or controlling reversible barriers.

An essential part of the design phase was assessing employees’ needs and commuting habits, which had been significantly altered by the post-COVID era and the emergence of hybrid working. For an organization of this size, facility management faces considerable challenges in handling departments, teams, and employees with differing needs and access rights. Thus, integrating efficiency-boosting functions to support their work was also a top priority.

The design phase ultimately resulted in the concept of a complex parking management system that is unique in Hungary both technologically and functionally.

A Service Without Compromises

Parkl’s experts were involved as early as the design phase, making it possible to implement a unique digital parking system fully tailored to employees’ needs and the specific local and operational requirements.

“With Parkl’s experts, we were able to implement a solution that works for every user case, without compromises. Our main goal was to provide employees with the highest level of user experience, making their everyday office life easier while also giving facility management an efficient, transparent operating system.” – added Dóra Alexa.

Parkl’s core product, Parkl Office, already contained numerous existing features, which were customized and integrated into the MOL Campus app. Additionally, facility management staff now use an enhanced version of Parkl’s online administration platform.

The digital parking garage of MOL Campus has become the most modern office parking system in Hungary, thanks to the following functions:

“The development was the largest-scale project in our company’s history. We attribute our success to the fact that, despite the young age of our team, we have extensive experience and expertise behind us, enabling quick response and flexibility to emerging needs. We are proud to say that we solved parking for one of Hungary’s largest office developments!” – said Zsolt Somogyi, CEO of Parkl.

If you are interested in Parkl’s business services, visit their website.

The MOL Group’s new headquarters in Budapest has been open to the public since April 21. The ground floor and visitor center are freely accessible, while the 29th-floor panoramic terrace, located 120 meters high, can be visited with an entrance ticket.

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