These days it is also known as the home of the annual North American International Auto Show (NAIAS) arguably the largest car show in the world featuring $10m of the world’s most spectacular cars. In order to pull off a show of this magnitude the venue needed to be re-configured in such a way that it could transport trucks, cars and goods into its historic Grand Riverview Ballroom. SERAPID was approached by Kone to make this vision, using an innovative platform lift system, reality.
It installed two tailor made non-hydraulic platform lifts, robust enough to handle 25,000kg each. The bespoke lifts measuring 80m by 4.6m move just over 8.5m and operate as a truck lift, a car lift or a goods lift right into the ballroom itself. Using the same shaft for both lifts, the elevator drives are fitted with automated and interlocked barriers to ensure safety and are so compact they can be hidden away in a shallow pit measuring just 1.3m deep. This space-saving solution means there is no need for large plant room or heat removal equipment normally required with a conventional hydraulic system.
The result, a modern movement solution capable of transforming an historic venue into a truly flexible space for today’s world.