What was our project in Stephen’s Green Shopping Centre, Dublin City?

On the 8th November in 1988 Stephen’s Green Shopping Centre was opened. It is one of the first large shopping centres to be opened in Dublin City and is managed by Jones Lang LaSalle .  The shopping centre is located in the heart of the city between the Gaiety Theatre to the North and St Stephen’s Green to the East. Dunbar and Boardman were commissioned to replace Kone escalators that had been installed in the 1980s.

What was the biggest project challenge?

The biggest project challenge we faced was the logistical issues and there were many. First of all The Luas tramline and tiny one-way streets meant that removal of the old escalators and then delivery and installation of 2 new escalators at 5.88m rise was far from straightforward. Secondly the escalators were located on the top floor of a five storey functioning shopping centre. We had to either go through the glass roof overhead or down five floors of car park.

What was our solution?

The existing Kone escalators were one of the few remaining examples manufactured in their French factory in the late 1980s.  Since the time of their installation light-weight materials and space saving solutions have become commonplace. Dunbar and Boardman were commissioned to seek competitive tenders for a major modernisation or complete replacement. The installation in February 2015 was the culmination of 18 months of planning and consultation to ensure that we reached the most cost effective solution for the client and least disruptive site works for the public.  We chose the car park ramps as a route for removal and replacement.  The clear height on the car park ramps is only 2.05m.  The removal was undertaken over 2 nights, with the units being split into 4 sections to ensure the correct clearance.  They were taken down through the car park using the ramps in four sections, one at a time.

The 2 new Kone Travel Master escalators were delivered on the week beginning 9th February 2015, each in 4 sections, over 2 nights on 40 foot trucks.  They were unloaded and brought up the car park ramps and then raised into position and reassembled.  The team on site were Mulder Montage who undertook the removal and installation work, for Kone.  Light Speed technology has been specified on the escalators making them safer, these were the first escalators in Ireland with this feature.  The new escalators included variable frequency drive systems which will provide a significant saving to the client in terms of power consumption.  The whole programme from removal to testing took ~7 weeks, with little inconvenience to the Centre or members of the public.

What were the results?

The installation was a success and the new Kone escalators have improved the vertical transportation capabilities of the Shopping Centre in terms of volumes of passengers, passenger safety and energy efficiency.

Dunbar and Boardman is the lift, escalator and access equipment consultancy. Are you currently planning a project that will involve vertical transportation? We would be happy to discuss with you. Give us a call on T +44 (0)20 7739 5093 or send us an email via peterboardman@dunbarboardman.com  to start the conversation. We look forward to hearing from you.

Image Credits: Stephens Green Shopping Centre

"Dublin-StephensGreen1" by mattbuck (category) - Own work. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons - http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Dublin-StephensGreen1.JPG#/media/File:Dublin-StephensGreen1.JPG

Escalators Image Credits: Dunbar and Boardman

Why was Dunbar and Boardman’s Simon Lancaster in Haiti?

Background

In over 30 years of existence Dunbar and Boardman has worked on projects in many far-flung places around the world.  A good, recent example is a project we  specified and attended commissioning tests for Digicel in Haiti. Digicel are a market-leading mobile phone operator across the Caribbean and although headquartered in Jamaica Digicel are owned by Irish billionaire Denis O'Brien. It is through this Irish connection that we were involved in the project.

What was the project challenge?

Digicel Haiti is housed in a 12-storey office building that is currently undergoing refurbishment. The building had a 3 car Otis Gen2 group with 10 person cars, 800 doors, running at 1.6m/s. These existing lifts are struggling to provide any reasonable lift service to the 1000 people in the building. 

What was the solution?

We wrote the technical specification for two new additional lifts that are now fitted. The 2 new lift shafts have been added to the outside wall of the lift lobby and 2 x Kone monospace lifts installed. These are 21 person @ 2.5m/s with 1100 c/o doors. Simon Lancaster from our Irish office visited to witness test and snag the new installations. To remain cost effective the two sets of lifts will remain working but are to be provided with an 'overlay ' system to give some coordination to lift service.
 

What were the results?

This is very much an ongoing project. The two additional lifts have been installed to a good standard.  An agent company of Kone from the Dominican Republic called Setec installed them. Following Simon’s visit Setec will now make some cosmetic improvements to the Otis lift cars and then fit a Kone overlay system to coordinate the two separate groups of lifts.

Are you currently considering upgrading your vertical transportation to cope with increased daily passengers? We would be happy to discuss with you. Give us a call on T +44 (0) 20 7739 5093 or send us an email via peterboardman@dunbarboardman.com to start the conversation. We look forward to hearing from you.

Spotlight on: Ireland

(Central Bank of Ireland, Dublin)

Dunbar & Boardman first opened our Irish chapter in the 1990s. Our first project was to advise on the BUPA Hospital that became Blackrock Clinic. This resulted in a longstanding relationship over 20 years during which we replaced lift installations throughout and completed extensive renovation and extension works. We also carried out an escalator replacement at St. Stephens Green shopping centre during the 1990s. Initially we were based in small offices in Dublin but we are now well established at the Capel Building after moving there in 2001 We are proud of the working relationships we have established with Primark/Pennys, Dundrum Shopping Centre, the Health and Safety Authority, Dublin City Council, Irish Rail, St James Hospital, Jones Lang LaSalle, Cadbury and the DAA to name but a few. 

Listed below are a few of the projects that we have completed in Ireland:

   

   * Chartered Land - Preparation of tender & specification including site management for installation of a new passenger lift in one of the units in Dundrum Town Centre. Tendering of the vertical transportation maintenance contract for the complete Dundrum TC complex & ongoing technical support.

·   * Douglas Newman Good Commercial - Tendering & site management for modernisation of two passenger lifts in the City Square SC, Waterford. 

* University of Ulster – preparation of maintenance tender & specification including participation in evaluation process. 

   

     * Belfast City Council - Tender & site management for complete replacement of passenger lift in City Hall, Belfast

·    * Dublin Airport Authority – Lift Traction System Re-Engineering of two lifts in T2 car-park & technical specification to install two additional passenger lifts. 

    * Brown Thomas group - Preparation of tender & specification with site management for complete replacement of staff passenger lift & modernisation of the goods/passenger lift in their Grafton Street store.

     * St James Hospital, Dublin 8 - Tender & site management for complete replacement of eight bed/passenger lifts as part of a capital expenditure programme over a number of years.

Do you have a current or planned project in Ireland? We would be happy to discuss any such requirements and how we may be able to assist. Our local team comprises of Dave Neil, Simon Lancaster and Ruth Kyne. Please contact us via  Vance Cunningham to start the conversation. We look forward to hearing from you.