Images of hospital car park revealed

This is one picture which illustrates the potential transformation of a multimillion-pound car park at the north-east’s flagship hospital.

New images have been unveiled, showing the £10million facility at Aberdeen Royal Infirmary.

Themultistorey car park will consist of eight levels and will be exclusively used for patients and visitors.

Currently, there are just 748 spaces for these two groups, despite the hospital receiving about 5,000 visits every day.

The development has been made possible by a donation of £10.73million from Sir Ian and Lady Helen Wood’s charity, the Wood Foundation, in May last year.

Last night, the billionaire said the structure would allow the health board to continue spending on front-line health services.

He added: “It’s good to see tangible progress on this much-needed project, which is being championed by my wife.

“We are both pleased with the artist’s impressions which show an attractive building that will enhance the hospital’s estate. Our aim was to help fund a new car park that would alleviate the stress for patients and their families caused by the current inadequate parking.”

The new development will have room for 1,276 parking bays, including 50 disabled spaces.

It will be built on the site of the existing second car park, meaning that staff will lose out on 91 spaces.

The proposals are expected to be considered by city planning chiefs in the near future. It is scheduled to open in February.

An artist’s impression of the new ARI car park