Issue link: http://digital.canadawide.com/i/178323
I n 1853, when Elisha Otis invented a safety device to counter the accidents that plagued most 'elevation platforms' of his day, he could not have envisioned the in luence his creation would have on how buildings are designed and built. Otis created a safety device to ill a need: to make the freight elevator in the factory he was building safer and more reliable. Otis' breakthrough device increased public con idence in the elevator, and made taller buildings a practical reality. Since the company that Otis founded installed the irst public elevator in a ive-storey department store in 1857, the industry has unquestionably evolved. Elevators move people up and down skyscrapers of previously undreamt-of heights, or provide wheelchair access for those who simply need to get from one loor to another. Escalators and people movers have become signi icant solutions to movement in large public spaces such as shopping centres and airports. And, the residential elevator is becoming an important speciality market, particularly in higher-end, new residential construction. Wheelchair lifts are another noteworthy niche where companies are successfully providing end-to-end service to customers with speci ic needs. One such company is Saskatoonbased Access 2000 which has manufactured more than 600 wheelchair lifts in Saskatchewan and neighbouring provinces. Glen Ogilvy, company founder, says about 90 per cent were installed in public buildings. He's seeing two trends: high-end wheelchair lifts in the stairways of low-rise of ice buildings where conventional elevators don't make sense, and customer elevators designed for high-end homes. "Million-dollar homes are becoming more common," Ogilvy observes, "I've met people who wished they had included an elevator in their houses. While the special needs side of the business is growing, people with means are realizing that a home elevator, such as the Summit custom home elevator, offers convenience and more useable space on the top loor and in the basement of multi-level homes." Ogilvy notes that many new subdivisions in cities like Regina and Saskatoon feature narrow building lots, so higherend homes are indeed becoming higher. The lots in older areas are also typically narrow, so new in ill-housing units are often three storeys high. And, Ogilvy adds, spending $25,000 for an elevator is reasonable for those whose new home plans include hot tub rooms, remotecontrolled sound and security systems. Delta Elevators Company Ltd., based in Waterloo, manufactures, installs and services elevators in the industrial, commercial, institutional and multiresidential markets in the Toronto area and southern Ontario. President Elevators p.40-43Bathtubs_Elevators.indd 43 Elevated Designs Manufacturers of elevator and lift systems respond to the changing needs of the market by Bill Armstrong Andrew Friedel says two-thirds of the company's work is in new construction and one-third in renovations or retroits, though that varies seasonally and as building activity changes. Friedel sees machine room-less (MRL) elevators as a major emerging portion of the market. "MRL is accounting for more market share in the mid-rise sector, bridging the space between smaller hydraulic units and the larger overhead traction installs," he notes. "The MRL and other gearless drive con igurations do generally deliver greater energy ef iciency. Maintenance costs are mostly preventative, which Delta advocates investing in since it is more cost-effective in the long term, due to the extended service life of the equipment." Delta, a Canadian company celebrating 45 years in business, is involved in one of its most interesting and challenging jobs almost literally on its doorstep, at the Quantum-Nano Centre at the University of Waterloo. When it opens later this year, the building will house the Institute for Quantum Computing and the Waterloo Institute for Nanotechnology. "The installation is unique," Friedel says, "due to the requirement for ultra-low vibration transfer to the building structure." Growing demand from the commercial and residential condo sectors are driving Bramalea Elevator Ltd. to come up with innovative elevator and lift solutions. "The trend in every metropolitan Canadian city is a shrinking downtown area, meaning development is going up vertically and below grade," says Puneet Mehta, Bramalea's vice president of sales, who has seen a direct result of this type of building development. "Our sales of lifts and elevators have doubled compared to last year for the condo market." Mixed-use condominiums are designed with commercial at ground level, then multiple loors of of ices, then residential suites. These tight sites leave little room for parking ramps, hence the importance of automobile elevators. "Automobile elevators are the future," says Mehta. Bramalea's freight/utility lifts carry garbage bins and equipment used to service these mixed-use buildings. They run between grade level and the basement below, but cannot go below what can be up to ive parking levels. It is important to be able to use as much of the habitable space beneath the hoistway shaft as possible. An elevator cab will have some thickness, so normally a pit is necessary at the bottom of the loor. Bramalea has special elevators with a cab loor that is only a one-half-inch steel plate, which sits only three-quarters of an inch above the loor. This is referred to as "No-Pit Design." The advantages include design lexibility by avoiding the drop ceiling necessary with the regular thickness of the cab, and full usage of habitable space below the shaft. Coquitlam-based Western Elevators is experiencing demand for its commercial wheelchair elevators, residential elevators, vertical porch lifts and stair lifts. President Alan Bodnaruk says the company has never been busier, with demand coming from people with disabilities, people aging in place in their homes and the high-end residential market. Western sells and services commercial wheelchair elevators, which it has installed in new buildings and retro itted into existing ones, with clients like golf clubhouses, casinos, schools, churches and private residences. The various models offered include upgrade options from the standard door on the elevator landing, such as two-seat sliding doors on the landing, an accordion gate, or, on the top-end model, sliding doors on the car or landing. The inish, he adds, can be just about anything: glass, stainless steel, or wood. Some clients even bring in their own custom carpenter. Canada, Bodnaruk observes, lags behind the U.S. in incorporating home elevators in new high-end home construction. Where elevators are installed in every home in a 150-home project south of the border, builders in Canada may choose to include elevators in ive or 10 units. "It's important to get architects and builders to understand that when people buy that last home, they want to stay and age in place," Bodnaruk says. "The cost of framing in space for an elevator during construction may be about $1,500, but if you retro it it can be $25,000 once you move lines and repair inishes." ■ AUGUST 2012 /43 7/13/12 10:07 AM