A complex, groundbreaking automated car elevator system, situated in the center of the $560-million, 60-story Porsche Design Tower project in Sunny Isles Beach, Fla., is raising the bar on "sky garage" technology, and taking its builders on a memorable journey as contractors and engineers make accommodations for the massive system. By combining high-speed- and freight-elevator concepts as part of what is believed to be the first such system for carrying cars and human passengers, the highly programmed, patented design may one day influence the development of similar projects.
For now, though, the system—which enables residents to park their cars in their attached garages—is presenting a towering engineering and construction challenge. "These are the most complicated elevator systems I've ever seen," says Rob Bailey, president of Chicago-based Mid-American Elevator, and the man charged with delivering the first-of-its-kind system. Bailey, a 35-year industry veteran, also provided elevators for NASA's massive Vehicle Assembly Building at Kennedy Space Center.