Any time one builds a home, office building, or car park, the goal is to maximize the space available. However, there are certain considerations that must be taken into account. If the building is too flimsy, it could collapse and cause great harm to any occupants. Structural integrity must be maintained in order to benefit from the use of space.

The taller a building is, the more support must be provided. This not only includes the outer walls, but may call for pillars or interior walls that are stacked atop one another. These are necessary to provide the support for upper stories and the roof. If improperly built, the building could fall with one floor stacking on top of those below.

In addition to placement of walls and pillars, one must consider the materials used. For tall office buildings, many contractors use steel girders. Homes are often built out of wood, concrete, brick, or other substances. Car parks typically utilize a large amount of concrete. Even this must, however, be reinforced with wire and rebar to provide maximum strength.

Architects must be aware of all the factors that will affect the stability of a building. These can include the use the building will be put to, the type of soil that lies beneath the building, overall height, and weight of building materials plus anything that will be placed inside. They have been trained in how to calculate loads and determine the materials that must be used as well as placement of load bearing walls and pillars.

Additional calculations must be made for designing a viable car park. This is because vehicles come in a variety of heights, as do the drivers. It will be necessary to determine the proper spacing between different decks to provide adequate space for users to move around freely. Some minimize this height by designing structures that make use of robotic equipment to place vehicles, eliminating the need to calculate based on the height of human drivers.

Developing a usable parking structure design takes time and many calculations. With vehicles of different weights on the roads, it is necessary to estimate the maximum load that is expected to be placed on each floor. A smart architect will overestimate this number and choose materials and placements for load bearing structures that will assure no chance for a collapse or other disaster. He will also design in security features so that users can rest assured their vehicles will remain safe while not in use.