British Library - Paternosters
Cofely GDF Suez, the Facilities Management contractor for the British Library have awarded a number of contracts to FATA Automation for the refurbishment of six Paternoster type elevators that form part of the Mechanical Book Handling System (MBHS) at the British Library, St. Pancras site, London.
The paternosters deliver tote boxes from book storage in the basement levels to the public reading rooms. The tallest paternoster serves 10 floors and has a total lift of 46 metres.
The paternosters have been operational since 1997 without major overhaul. Library engineers specified that the drive and tension units should be inspected for wear and component replaced as found necessary. Though this would have been the most cost effective solution it would have been impractical to strip down and rebuild on site.
The solution FATA proposed was to build new drive and tension assemblies and replace these on the first paternoster. Following this, a rolling replacement programme was put in place to refurbish six paternosters over two years.