Sophisticated Auto Elevator with Vehicle Turntable
Freight Elevator with Vehicle Turntable is the Solution for Small Parking Area
Unique Design at Manhattan Office Building Provides Stress-Free Convenience
Borough of Manhattan, New York
Beneath a building positioned on a small triangular site, the below-grade parking levels could only accommodate a few parking spaces to the left and right of a freight elevator. Clearly, a highly sophisticated turntable operation was a fundamental requirement of the elevator design.
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Typically confined to extremely tight areas, most underground parking garages provide automobiles with little room to park. The difficulty is greatly increased when the parking area is so small that vehicles cannot turn around when exiting or entering an elevator and when heavily congested traffic precludes cars from merging onto streets in reverse. Such was the case at the Banca Commerciale Italiana offices in downtown Manhattan in the late 1980s.
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Beneath a building positioned on a small triangular site, the below-grade parking levels could only accommodate a few parking spaces to the left and right of a freight elevator. Furthermore, the parking area configuration was such that the elevator had to allow cars to be driven on and off through any of three landing doors, while being large enough to transport a full-size limousine. Clearly, a highly sophisticated turntable operation was a fundamental requirement of the elevator design.
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Based on a co-design with GEM Elevator, Gillespie engineered a 22' 11 1/4" wide x 23' 7 1/4" long, 10,000 lb freight elevator that travelled at 50 feet-per-minute and served three levels. Its platform mounted, 21' diameter turntable was designed to rotate an onboard automobile to any of three positions around the hoistway, thereby enabling the vehicle to be driven directly into a parking spot when unloaded.
While the elevator proceeds downward from street level to the desired parking level, the turntable positions the automobile to face the landing doors through which it will exit. To return to street level, the car is backed out of its parking spot onto the elevator and rotated during the ascent for direct, forward-facing exit. The vehicle can then merge into street traffic. Since its installation, this elevator has continued to provide occupants at 1 South William Street with some welcome relief from Manhattan's legendary parking woes.
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Contact us at sales@gillespiecorp.com, call 413-967-4980 or visit www.gillespiecorp.com.