Washington Missouri Residential Elevator Project

SM contacted us regarding a unique elevator project in Washington Missouri. They had a very large building that looked like a barn on the outside but the inside was completely finished off to be living space. This building had twenty foot ceilings inside and the attic area above was designed to be finished off into apartments for family members and guests that wanted to stay at the property. Although they had staircases on the outside of the building to access the second floor attic area they really wanted an elevator to make the space above easily enjoyable.

When we arrived on site there was no structure or mechanicals in place at the time for an elevator. As we discussed the options that we offered SM really liked the idea of our Cambridge Elevating Cambrian model due to its commercial style automatic doors on both the cab and landings. We worked with the engineers at Cambridge elevating to design the elevator and the infrastructure necessary to complete this unique project.

Once we decided on placement we had the floor cut and removed in a section where the pit would be located. After the pit was poured and waterproofed we carefully cut a corresponding size hole in the ceiling and reconfigured the trusses above to accept the elevator hoistway. We then built the hoistway walls on each level to the specifications the Cambridge engineers designed. Since the walls on the main floor were twenty feet tall we created a stiffback system at the mid point to tie the new wall into the existing exterior wall. This also served as the ceiling for the elevator mechanical room and a coat closet. We then had a 110 and a 220 circuit ran to the mechanical room to power the lights and elevator.

After the framing was complete 5/8 drywall was installed inside the hoistway and fire taped. This is to ensure that if a fire were to start on the main floor it gives occupants above time to escape the building and prevents the hoistway from acting as a chimney. When It came time to fit the elevator all of our preparation made for a relatively easy three day installation. On this project we utilized a few unique things from Cambridge such as Commercial style automatic sliding doors with the proper fire rating for reasons stated above. We also added a keypad system that requires a pin code to be entered in order to access or use the elevator so children could not play on the elevator.