However, they will not want to overlook one critical area of their business's campus where many will first contact the ambiance they wish their company campus to promote, which is their public parking garages. These areas, which can feel quite large and industrial, can also, with foresight and planning, give off a welcoming appeal to visitors. Many facility managers focus on five ideas to make their garages feel more welcoming.

1. Use Plenty of Lighting

Lighting makes up one of the critical factors that add to the welcoming nature of your garage. Well-lit spaces provide easy access around the garage no matter the time of day or night, enhancing the expanded use of the facility. Many garage owners choose to use LED parking garage lighting because it provides a cost-efficient means of lighting each area in the garage. Furthermore, utilizing appropriate lighting fixtures in critical locations can also improve the safety of your facility. Moreover, to emphasize the beauty of the building or a landscape feature nearby, you can add targeted lighting fixtures to add lighting highlight, thus also increasing the welcoming nature that the garage evokes with visitors.

2. Create Spacious Parking Spots

Drivers can find it quite tedious to find parking that fits their car's size in most public parking garages. The potential problem becomes a non-issue if you drive a compact, but it can often become an impossible quest for those with larger vehicles. You will want to consider the parking layout. One aspect resides in the specific details of whether straight or angled parking will allow you to accommodate the largest numbers of staff and visitors. Simultaneously, you need to give them the space to navigate their vehicles into the slots easily and have enough room to open and close the doors of their cars and trucks. Providing easy parking creates a favorable first impression with guests to your facility.

3. Mark All Areas Clearly

Traffic signs and painted lines will help ensure the safety and traffic flow within your parking garage. Many traffic signs are mandatory by law. For instance, various traffic signs that feature blank, reserved and time limit messaging will let drivers know where they can safely park. Additionally, Americans with Disabilities, or ADA, signage must be placed identifying entrances and parking spots for those using wheelchairs and needing other accommodations to enter the building and navigate easily.

4. Position Elevators Convenient to Parking Spots

When you place traffic signs at all elevator entrances, you create another means of asking guests to enter your business. Guests can use elevators to bring heavier items up to higher floors or to reach their destinations within the building promptly.

5. Add Ambiance With Landscape Elements

The concept of greeting guests with an enticing garage need not stop with its interior. It can continue into adjoining exterior spaces with a beautifully groomed landscape. Creating an all-season landscape will ensure that the plants you select bloom and flourish throughout the year. You can achieve the effect of an all-season landscape when you think of the entire planting space and then mentally divide it.

Set aside one-third of it for evergreen plants that look good throughout the year, one-third for perennial plants that shine for an entire season or two and a final third for plants that only bloom for one season. When you carefully select the plants and place them appropriately in the space, you will set the landscape up to look beautiful throughout the year. For instance, you might choose dwarf conifer shrubs to provide all-season interest and then mix in long-blooming and drought tolerant perennials like crocosmia or snapdragons, interspersing the perennials with seasonal bulbs such as tulips for spring and dahlias for summer and fall.

Although visitors might feel intimidated when they first reach your building complex, you can ease their transition into the facility. A comfortable and anticipatory entrance happens when you make a concerted effort to welcome newcomers and help give them a positive impression of your company.