After four years of funding redirection the two elevator interiors (North and South cars) at Hamilton House public housing apartments in St. Louis Park, MN have finally been updated.
Working with municipalities, in this case, the Minneapolis Public Housing Authority (MPHA), requires elevator contractors to have laser sharp focus on cost control–which is a serious concern in any modernization project, in addition to other factors including production scheduling, and the customers’ budget.
At The Start Of The Project
To start the long anticipated elevator interior modernization the facility manager took a common path in getting the process started–by soliciting bids from various elevator contractors. After placing a solicitation for bids using a standardized bid solicitation process, the facility manager stated “We went with MEI (Minnesota Elevator, Inc.) because they provided the lowest bid”. He then visited other (public) elevators to get an idea of how he wanted the elevator interior design to look, tried his hand at sketching out his ideas on paper, and then sat down with his MEI representative to decide specifically what he wanted to order.
From Order To Install
Both elevator interiors were ordered in December 2015, installed by the end of February, 2016, and the elevator inspector gave his stamp of approval on Wednesday, March 2, 2016.
The first car updated was the North car elevator, a 4000# capacity car, featuring G&R’s EPIC Solution #GR701e. The #GR701e is a combination design featuring vertical and horizontal wall panels. The upper panels are faced with Wilsonart® Solar Oak and they are edged with stainless steel #4 (satin finish) binder angles. The lower (horizontal) wall panels are faced with durable patterned stainless steel (5WL pattern).
The full-depth reveals are also stainless steel #4 (satin finish). The new ceiling allows the facility manager to easily access/change the LED bulbs and is a lightweight suspended island frame (also faced with sections of stainless steel). The South car features the same accouterments but is smaller in size.
To get a closer look at EPIC Solution watch the DEMO video or visit our project gallery to see photos of this completed elevator interior modernization project.
