MGM Construction
Future-proofing the car park: MGM Construction’ s European first in EV infrastructure
The shift to electric vehicles is changing UK roads faster than many anticipated. What is less discussed is what that shift means for the buildings that support them. For MGM Construction, a Gateshead-based specialist contractor and NFB member, that question became a live engineering challenge when they were appointed to structurally reinforce a major multi-storey car park in Newcastle upon Tyne.
The project is believed to be the first of its kind in Europe. And the process developed to deliver it may well become a blueprint for car parks across the country.
The problem nobody had solved before Electric vehicles are heavier than the cars that came before them. Battery packs can add up to 600kg to a vehicle’ s total weight, and as EV adoption accelerates, that additional load is being distributed across structures that were designed decades ago with far lighter vehicles in mind.
“ When car parks were built, the logic was always that cars would get lighter, not heavier,” explains Phil Burridge, Managing Director of MGM Construction.“ As more people drive electric vehicles, all that extra weight risks putting undue stress on a car park’ s existing concrete pillars.”
The car park in question is a busy sixlevel multi-storey in Newcastle city centre, used daily by commuters and regularly by thousands of event-goers. Closing it was not viable. The brief was clear: reinforce all ten structural pillars without taking the car park out of service.
Nothing like it had been attempted before.
Developing the process With no existing methodology to draw on,
MGM Construction’ s team developed their approach from the ground up. The solution centred on wrapping each existing concrete pillar with a steel collar, then filling the void with triple-strength concrete to significantly increase the load-bearing capacity of each column.
The execution was considerably more complex than that description suggests.
Access to the pour zone was severely restricted. Concrete had to be introduced through small apertures in the steel collar frame rather than poured directly. Each pour had to be completed within a strict 45-minute window, because once triplestrength concrete of this specification begins to set, there is no opportunity to correct or adjust. Conditions throughout each pour were carefully monitored, including concrete temperature, humidity, viscosity, and dew point on the internal steel frame.
Once poured, the concrete required approximately three days to achieve initial set. That curing cycle drove the sequencing of the entire programme, with sections carefully phased to keep the car park partially operational at all times.
“ Nothing like this has ever been attempted before,” says Burridge.“ It took a lot of our team’ s expertise and vast skillset to ensure we could do so with minimal disruption whilst, most importantly, keeping the public safe at all times.”
A Completely Unique Result
The programme ran for approximately one year, reaching practical completion in November 2025. Crush test results on the completed reinforcement work were described as phenomenal, with the pillars now built to withstand load levels that significantly exceed current demands and provide headroom for continued EV growth. The phased delivery approach meant the car park remained revenue-generating throughout, and the public were kept safe at every stage of the works.
For MGM Construction, which has seen its turnover treble since 2020, the project represents a significant addition to a portfolio that spans heritage restoration, healthcare, education, and structural repair. The company holds a range of independently verified accreditations including CHAS Elite, Constructionline Gold, and ISO 9001:2015, and is part of the Northern Bear Plc group of companies.
A Warning for the Wider Industry For Burridge, the implications of the project extend well beyond this one site.“ Car park operators across the UK will need to ensure that their sites are EV-proof and can withstand potentially hundreds of tonnes of extra weight in the coming years,” he says.“ We hope that our work can act as a blueprint for other sites going forward.”
It is a challenge that is only going to grow. EV registrations in the UK continue to rise year on year, and the structural implications for existing car park infrastructure have barely begun to be addressed at a national level. The process developed by MGM Construction on this project offers the industry a starting point.
For car park operators and asset managers facing the same structural question, MGM Construction has already done what no contractor in Europe had done before. The capability exists, the process has been proven, and the results speak for themselves.
MGM Construction is a specialist North East contractor and NFB member based in Gateshead, founded in 1986. For more information visit mgmconstruction. co. uk
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