KONE have recently completed a modernisation project at a listed ‘Art Deco’ 1930’s building at 95 Bothwell Street, Glasgow, former home of the Scottish Legal Life Assurance Company. The consultants are Lerch Bates and the client is Henderson with the building managed by Drivers Jonas LLP.
The project began 7 months ago after careful and well executed planning by the KONE installation teams to modernise the existing 4 elevators in the historical building.
There were several challenges that had to be overcome. Firstly, as the building was an office environment, it was imperative that whilst one set of the duplex elevators were being modernised, the other set were working in a reliable and efficient manner. This was quite a challenge due to the nature of working with older elevators and their often temperamental character.
Secondly, access to the generators and machine rooms of the elevators was difficult as the only access internally was via the original ornate marble staircase. To work round this, the KONE team devised an innovative plan to crane all the old and new equipment in and out of the building by designing and building a special landing platform constructed on the roof of the building.
Both the client and the consultants were impressed with KONE’s capabilities in managing the modernisation of the elevators whilst taking cognisance of the difficulties of working in a listed building.
Carl Kirk, Sales Executive for KONE, said “This job presented all the usual challenges of working in an occupied building and a number of additional ones as well. What paid dividends was the detailed planning undertook by KONE and Lerch Bates long before work began on site – this laid the groundwork for a safe and successful project.”
For further information, please contact:
Jenny Evans, Marketing Executive 0870 774 8233
About KONE
KONE’s objective is to offer the best people flow experience by developing and delivering solutions that enable people to move smoothly, safely, comfortably and without waiting in buildings in an increasingly urbanizing environment. KONE provides its customers with industry-leading elevators, escalators and innovative solutions for modernisation and maintenance, and is one of the global leaders in its industry. In 2007, KONE had annual net sales of EUR 4.1 billion and over 32,500 employees. KONE class B shares are listed on the OMX Nordic Exchange Helsinki in Finland.