A building with 200, 400 or more units has a front desk that spends much of its day on parcels, a mailroom that overflows every December, and couriers queuing at the concierge. If that is your building, this page covers how package lockers work at high-rise scale: multiple banks, peak-season planning, overflow, and how the concierge’s job changes.
Quick answer
- Size for the peak, not the average. Use your own December counts.
- Several banks, each with its own courier touchscreen, placed where couriers arrive and residents pass.
- One software account for every bank, with one record of every parcel.
- Overflow plan before the first peak: staffed shelf or cage, shorter collection window, faster reminders.
- Concierge relief: staff stop logging and handing out everyday parcels.
- Price: see the rough price guide; large buildings sit at the upper end or above it.
Why one bank is rarely enough
At high-rise scale, three constraints show up:
- Courier queuing. One touchscreen handles one drop-off at a time. At busy times, several drivers arrive together. More touchscreens means less waiting.
- Distance. A bank at the loading dock may be a long walk for residents of a far tower; a bank in the lobby may be a long push with a hand cart from the dock.
- Peak volume. The cell count that copes with an ordinary Tuesday will not cope with the weeks around Black Friday and the run-up to Christmas.
Sizing for the holiday peak
| Input | Where to get it |
|---|---|
| Parcels per day, ordinary weeks | Two weeks of desk or mailroom logs |
| Parcels per day, peak weeks | Last year’s late November and December logs |
| Average days before collection | Desk logs, or a resident survey |
| Share of oversize parcels | A week of logs with size noted |
Occupied cells ≈ parcels per day × average days waiting. Do the sum for the peak, add headroom, then split by size. The sizing guide has a worked example. Use your own logs: peak multiples differ a lot between buildings.
Placing several banks
| Position | Good for | Watch for |
|---|---|---|
| Loading dock or delivery entrance | Couriers with carts; keeps traffic out of the lobby | Resident walking route and lighting; see parking garage lockers |
| Main lobby, near the lifts | Residents; visible amenity | Courier traffic through the lobby; floor space |
| Each tower’s lobby (multi-tower sites) | Short walks for every resident | Couriers need to know which bank serves which tower |
| Mailroom | Controlled access, existing power | Capacity; see package room vs lockers |
All banks run under one account. Staff see every waiting parcel, by bank, in one portal.
Overflow: the plan that saves December
Even a well-sized system will have days when a parcel will not fit. Decide in advance:
- Overflow area: a staffed shelf or lockable cage near the main bank. Couriers or staff log overflow parcels so the resident is still notified.
- Collection window: shorten it in peak weeks, and send the reminder sooner.
- Clearing rule: staff clear expired cells daily in peak weeks, with a logged staff code, and move parcels to the overflow area.
- Resident message: a notice before the peak asking residents to collect promptly.
What changes for the concierge
| Before | After |
|---|---|
| Receives every parcel from every courier | Couriers drop off at the touchscreen |
| Logs and labels each parcel | The locker logs it |
| Calls or emails residents | The locker sends the code |
| Searches shelves when residents come down | Residents collect from the cell |
| Settles “it never arrived” disputes from memory | Checks the time-stamped record |
| Handles everything | Handles oversize items, overflow and exceptions |
Run the ROI calculator with your desk’s own minutes per parcel to see what that is worth.
Specification checklist for a large building
- Peak and ordinary parcel counts, with sizes
- Every courier entrance and every resident lift bank marked on a plan
- Bank positions, each with power and network
- Number of touchscreens
- Chilled cells for grocery, if residents order it (refrigerated lockers)
- Overflow area and peak-season rules
- Integration with your resident app or property system, if wanted, over the API
Where this is the wrong answer
- Most parcels are furniture or appliances. Plan a receiving room first.
- The desk is staffed 24 hours and parcels never go missing. Lockers still save time, but the case is weaker.
- There is nowhere near the courier entrance to put a bank. Lockers far from where couriers arrive get bypassed.
Rough price guide and quote
A high-rise with several banks usually lands at the top of the system range below, or above it for very large buildings; your quote fixes the number.
A small bank of about 10 cells with a courier touchscreen typically comes in at a few thousand US dollars, roughly US$2,000–5,000. A 50–100-cell building system is roughly US$8,000–20,000. Software is a flat monthly fee of around US$100 per location, with no per-parcel or resident fees. Freight, duties and installation are extra, and your quote fixes the price.
Price enquiry · 1 minute
Get a quote for your building
Tell us roughly what you need and we reply with a cell layout, a drawing and a firm price. For the full form with cell sizes and options, use the price enquiry page.
Frequently asked questions
How many locker banks does a 300-unit building need?
That depends on parcels per day and how long parcels wait, not on the unit count. Count two ordinary weeks and your busiest December weeks, size the total cells for the peak, then split them into banks so each touchscreen serves a manageable number of cells and each entrance couriers use has a bank near it. Our sizing guide shows the arithmetic.
What happens when the lockers are full in December?
Plan it in advance. Shorten the collection window and send reminders sooner during peak weeks, clear parcels that are past the window, and have an overflow area, usually a staffed shelf or locked cage, for anything that will not fit. The locker screen tells a courier when no suitable cell is free, so parcels are not forced in.
Can the concierge still hand out parcels?
Yes, for oversize items and overflow. The point is that the desk stops logging and handing out every parcel. Staff use a logged staff code to clear cells and record what they hand over, so the building keeps one record of every parcel.
Should each tower or entrance have its own bank?
If couriers and residents use different entrances, yes. Put a bank where couriers arrive, often the loading dock or delivery entrance, and consider a second near the residents’ lifts. Each bank has its own touchscreen, and the software manages every bank in the building from one account.
Do residents get to choose which bank their parcel goes to?
In practice the courier chooses the bank they reached, and the recipient’s message names the bank and cell. In a multi-tower building, place banks so that the nearest one to each courier entrance is also reasonable for the residents it serves.
Related
- Parcel lockers: the product and how a delivery runs
- New construction package lockers: planning banks at design stage
- Multifamily package lockers: ownership and fees
- Student housing package lockers: a different peak pattern
