Elevator World Project of the Year Winner, for elevator modernization!

San Francisco in 1907. The City is still shaken from the aftermath of one of the most significant earthquakes of all time.  However, The City is surging back to life; rising from the rubble. New building projects are in motion – modern structures will soon line Market Street.

Today, The Metropolis Trust Building sits amongst the most expensive real estate in San Francisco.  625 Market is a designated Category 1 Historic Landmark with a vertical transportation system still anchored in the past –a retrofit of machinery installed over 100 years ago.

21st century safety concerns meet turn-of-the-century building techniques. And there’s no app to solve this one. The elevator systems were all operating well beyond their expected life.

Situation

Project parameters included upgrading the rail systems to bring them up to modern seismic code. New pushbutton and signal fixtures, and modern cab interiors would also be added.

Elevators were not operating reliably –
issues with machine bearings and motor commutators kept cars out of service. In fact, car #1 had been intentionally disabled due to reliability concerns.

Building Management was intent on tenant satisfaction, safe operation, and improved structural integrity, as the historic building approached its second century of operation.
Enter Star Elevator. Despite the project’s inherent complexity, the team was not afraid to roll up its sleeves to solve the 15-story challenge.

The criss-cross crisis

First order of business was untangling the tricks of 1907 tradesmen – including a confounding criss-cross cable system.