Commercial Elevator Installation · Chicago

Passenger elevators move people vertically within a building. Most use automatic passenger-style doors, although some older buildings still use swing doors.

They are most commonly installed on one of four design bases: traction, in-ground hydraulic, hole-less hydraulic or MRL (machine room-less), in speed and capacity configurations tailored to your building. We are not limited to specific hoistway sizes, pit depths, speeds or capacities.

Traction equipment serves buildings over five stories where greater speed and capacity are required. Urban custom designs traction elevators to suit virtually any speed, capacity or existing hoistway. Using geared or gearless hoisting equipment, traction elevators run between 200 and 1,800 feet per minute, with DC or AC machines on solid state drives.

Hydraulic equipment typically serves buildings of five stories or less, and is ideally limited to three stories or less at speeds up to 200 feet per minute. Rising costs and geological issues continue to grow the hole-less hydraulic market, pushing it to its limits and creating the need for a more cost-competitive, reliable mid-rise solution.

The machine room-less elevator bridges the gap between hydraulic and traction, giving buildings beyond hydraulic’s ideal height and speed many of the benefits of traction at a cost modestly above hydraulic.

The most common freight elevator is the traditional Class A service elevator, which can’t carry more than 25% of its capacity in a single load, used widely in commercial and residential buildings.

Class B and Class C freight are typical in manufacturing plants, warehouses, hospitals, parking garages and retail. Class B carries motor vehicles at rated capacity; Class C is engineered to be loaded by power trucks or forklifts. Freight elevators are available as traction, hydraulic or MRL.

Demand for residential lifts continues to rise, helping people remain in their homes without limiting accessibility. LULA applications provide accessibility in schools, apartments, churches and senior centers, and specific codes must be met to qualify.

Today’s lifts are compact, freestanding hydraulic or traction units with minimal electrical and structural requirements, typically up to 1,000 lbs.

Vertical platform lifts provide accessible, short-rise vertical transportation for schools, churches, offices and multi-family buildings, and we install, service and maintain them.

Dumbwaiters move small loads, usually under 750 lbs, such as materials, supplies, food, files or groceries. Once common in commercial buildings, they are now a residential luxury, and can be added to almost any existing structure.