Photos from taken from here.

Elevatoring practitioners are employed by architects to determine the correct number, size, speed, and layout of elevators in a new building. Get it wrong and the building is doomed. Elevatoring professionals must apply predictive analytic techniques to get the elevator design just right.

How a building will be used is important, but so is cultural nuance. All kinds of variables must be considered. For example, people get very upset if they have to wait more than 20 seconds for an elevator in an office building, while they will tolerate 30 or 40 seconds in a hotel or apartment building.

Here are a few more interesting facts:

• Probable stop rule of thumb: 10 people in an elevator serving 10 floors will make 6.5 stops. 10 people in an elevator serving 30 floors; 9.5 stops.
• There should be enough elevators operating efficiently enough to move 13% of the occupants of a building within 5 minutes.
• Standard elevator measure is about 2 square feet per person.
• People in Asia will tolerate less personal space than people in the U.S. and willingly cram onto elevators at much greater density rates.

The total number of elevator cabs must be planned during the design process so as to ensure a smooth ride for future passengers. Some elevators are even experimenting with advanced elevator algorithm heuristics to speed up the process – but that’s an entire other post.

Know your audience

Elevator interiors, whether in one elevator or a bank of elevators, can be designed to match the decor and ambiance of any building.  Deciding what that feeling is can determine whether the elevator interior is energizing and upbeat or calming and relaxing.  Heading home to your highrise condo at the end of the day, you’d want a calming elevator cab interior.  Heading to work in an office building each morning, you’d want to be energized.  If the designer has incorporated the energy of the building into the design, then many individuals are subconsciously being prepared for their business at hand.

A lot of thought and energy goes into designing an elevator interior. Conversations with business owners and tenants can help determine the general use of the elevator, and steer design decisions. Doing so can assist a designer in knowing which building and fire codes one must adhere to as well as providing information on the best energies to include in such the elevator’s interior design.

Know the building codes

Safety and security are the most important feature in all elevators. This is why it is important to read the associated building and fire codes for any building where you are performing the work.   Codes can be specific to the city, county and state and even to the building and building type – so be sure to do some digging for this information.

Being green

When you’re designing the elevator interior itself, the current trend is to use “green”, or eco-friendly building materials.  Many of these “green” materials used in traditional building construction do not meet the strict safety and fire codes required of elevators.  Be sure that all of your materials meet the fire codes or you’ll spend a good bit of time redesigning the elevator interior.

The same goes for recycled materials.  You’ll need to check that regulations regarding such materials meet current codes and standards. This is because most recycled materials come from older buildings or products which may have only been classified under older regulations which may now have newer and stricter guidelines.

A well-designed elevator interior always takes the above issues into consideration before starting any work on customizing the elevator cab itself.

To match the decor expected of such retailers as Brooks Brothers, Cartier, Chanel, Christian Dior and Fendi, we took two escalators and clad them with #4 stainless steel. The outcome is a sleek, shiny conveyor that both blends into its surroundings while exhibiting the modern trends of it’s design neighbors.

A small waterfall fountain pool reflects on the underside of the escalator system, and lush foliage surrounds it.

View more photos in our gallery >

If you need gorgeous escalators for your next high-end retail space, contact us.

• The Door Close button is there mostly to give passengers the illusion of control. In elevators built since the early ’90s. The button is only enabled in emergency situations with a key held by an authority.
• The only known occurence of an elevator car free falling due to a snapped cable (barring fire or structural collapse), was in 1945. A B25 Bomber crashed into the Empire State Building, severing the cables of two elevators. The elevator car on the 75th floor had a woman on it, but she survived due to the 1000 feet of coiled cable of fallen cable below, which lessened the impact.
• Elevators are twenty times safer than escalators. There are twenty times more elevators than escalators, but only 1/3 more accidents.
• Elevators are also safer than cars. An average of 26 people die in elevators each year in the U.S. There are 26 car deaths every five hours.
• Most people who die in elevators are elevator technicians.
• The Otis Elevator Company carries the equivalent of the world’s population in their elevators every five days.
• The New York Marriott was the first to introduce a smart elevator system that assigned passengers to elevators depending on what floor they were heading to.
• Elevators used to require a two-man dispatcher/operator team to function. The advent of navigational buttons rendered those jobs obsolete.
• The area required for personal space is 2.3 feet. The average amount on elevators is generally 2 feet.
• Elevator hatches are generally bolted shut for safety reasons. In times of elevator crisis, the safest place is inside the elevator.
• The myth about jumping just before impact in a falling elevator is just that — myth. You can’t jump fast enough to counteract the speed of falling. And you wouldn’t know when to jump.
• Due to the laws of physics, elevators can’t be any taller than 1700 feet. Hoist ropes become too heavy after that, snapping at 3200 feet.

First I’d like to inform you how pleased the Board and our residents are with the elevator cab renovation.

As you know I was involved with the process from the beginning to its completion and found the entire experience to be a pleasure. The job was not only quality but completed on time and on budget.

Prior to my job here I have worked in construction both commercial, residential as well as high end kitchen design and fine cabinetmaking for over 20 years.    I have not seen this level of craftsmanship in years from the fabrication to the completed installation.

John’s precession and overall performance on the job was impeccable.    He kept the job site neat, clean and was a pleasure to have here.

It was a flawless job with greater than anticipated results. Thank you again!

Regards,

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According to the National Elevator Industry, Inc., about 210 billion times a year, people in the U.S. and Canada ride an estimated 700,000 elevators and 33,000 escalators that move 325 million elevator passengers and 245 million escalators passengers daily. Excluding automobiles, that is more than the total of riders of all other forms of transportation combined.

National Elevator Escalator Safety Awareness Week is celebrated the second full week of November each year to increase the public’s awareness of the safe riding behavior while using this equipment.  Safety Week is a promotion of public safety awareness for the industry’s equipment. Everyone is invited to make this special week a huge success in cities throughout the U.S. and Canada. Safety Week provides a focal point for the industry, on a local and national level, to join together as individuals, companies and organizations and spread the word about public safety in the elevator and escalator industry.

At the same time, Safety Week is an opportunity to celebrate the contributions made by the industry to the quality of life. Volunteers reach millions of riders with important safety messages in many locations during this celebration.

New York City takes Elevator Safety Week very seriously – and why not? A majority of the population of the city lives in high-rise buildings and relies on elevators daily.

• Elevator safety week at the Elevator Escalator Safety Foundation
• New York Celebrates Elevator Safety Week
• Safe-T Rider in NYC

You can design your elevator to accommodate the design of your home or tweak the design to what you desire. A normal home elevator adds strain as well as limited design choices to your home’s overall decor.

Custom elevators lose none of the safety values nor do they increase any chance for the elevator to defectively operate. The architecture of the elevator remains virtually untouched as most custom elevators are installed like any standard residential elevator, but the final after effect provides home owners with an added polish.

Tampa Bay Lightning Elevator Interior

After completing two custom renovated elevator interiors inside the Tampa Bay Lightning Hockey arena, St. Pete Times Forum, we received a letter of recommendation from Mary Milne, Vice President, Operations of the St. Pete Times Forum.

June 11, 2009
We recently had Ecab renovate the inside of two passenger elevators inside the St. Pete Times Forum. The changes they made to our elevators were dramatic. Their talent and professionalism shows in their final product. Their work was completed in a timely mannner. Likewise, they were a first class group to work with from start to finish. We look forward to having them complete further work within our building.

Tampa Bay Lightning Hockey Club
401 Channelside Dr.
Tampa, FL 33602