[01] THE REQUIREMENTS
Summit Property Group approached us with the challenge of delivering a large-scale apartment development within a tight urban site.
The community houses 140 residents across four floors, many with mobility devices. The two traction units are the only way most residents move through the building, including to the dining room, which meant a full outage of either car had consequences that go beyond inconvenience.
The scope was driven by code rather than performance. Door restrictors were required, the emergency communication in both cabs predated current two-way requirements, and the phone monitoring line had been failing intermittently for months without anyone knowing until a resident reported it.
Staff added a further constraint that shaped the whole schedule. Residents follow a fixed daily routine and disruption to that routine is a genuine care issue, not a scheduling preference. Work had to happen between 9:30am and 3:00pm, after breakfast service and before dinner, with both cars never down together.
[02] The results
Safety and communication upgrades delivered without disrupting a single day of resident routine
[03] THE WORK
Both units are through the code work and into punch list, with final testing scheduled with the state inspector.
Both cars received door restrictors, new two-way emergency communication with hands-free operation and video, and a monitored phone line with automatic line-fault reporting so an outage is flagged before a resident finds it. We also replaced door operator components on the primary car, which was responsible for most of the building's callback history.
The whole job ran inside a five and a half hour daily window with one car in service at all times. Our mechanics worked with a staff member posted at the lobby to redirect residents, and the crew ate lunch off site so the dining room stayed clear.
Category 1 testing is scheduled with the state inspector for final closeout.
[04] Testimonial
“Our residents never had to change a thing about their day. The crew learned people's names. That mattered more than I expected it to.”
Michael Grant
Executive Director, Deaconess Senior Living
