IN MEMORIAM: LOUIS BLAIOTTA, SR.
IN MEMORIAM: LOUIS BLAIOTTA, SR.
Louis “Lou” Blaiotta, Sr., founder and chairman of Columbia Elevator Products Co., Inc., died peacefully on March 1 at Calvary Hospital in Bronx, New York, at the age of 85. After working at the Williamsburg Elevator Products Division for several years, in the mid 1960s, he presented his employers, the Katz family, with a "different" concept of marketing elevator entrances and cabs to independent elevator contractors, but the Katzes did not accept it. Blaiotta gave nine months’ notice that he wished to pursue his concept on his own. This resulted in the formation of Columbia. His company went on from humble beginnings as a 10,000-sq.-ft. facility in Port Chester, New York, to become one of North America’s largest independent elevator architectural products manufacturers, with nearly 300,000 sq. ft. of manufacturing and engineering facilities located in Bridgeport, Connecticut; Miami; and Winfield, Kansas. Blaiotta was a member of many industry associations, boards and committees. He received the prestigious National Association of Elevator Contractors (NAEC) Distinguished Service Award (now the William C. Sturgeon Distinguished Service Award) in 1991, and, in 2013, he was presented with honorary lifetime NAEC membership. Blaiotta is survived by his wife of 64 years, Marie, three children and three grandchildren: Margaret (married to Paul) Gilhooley and daughter, Maria; Dione (married to Tom) Birdsall and son, Dillon; and Louis "L.J." (married to Laura) Blaiotta, Jr. and daughter, Alexandra.
EIGHT SETS OF ESCALATORS AT NEW LONDON CROSSRAIL STATION
Four sets of 40-m-long escalators at each end of the ticket platform are among amenities at Transport for London’s (TfL) new Canary Wharf station, on track to open in December in the Docklands area of East London, New Civil Engineer reports. Part of TfL’s new Elizabeth/Crossrail line, the station has been under construction since 2009 and involved many innovations, including building a piled cofferdam to account for the platform level being 29 m below the water line. When operational, 12 trains an hour will run in both directions through the station, with each train carrying up to 1,500 passengers.
TORONTO GETTING ONE OF TALLEST OFFICE TOWERS YET
Oxford Properties announced plans to build The HUB, a 60-story office tower in downtown Toronto at the northwest corner of Harbour and Bay streets in the transforming South Core, Urban Toronto reports. Its design by London-based Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners features a transparent façade, office floors "hanging" from central piers and a glassed-in winter garden at the top. Containing 1.4 million sq. ft, it will cantilever over the six-story Harbour Commission building, leaving a wide berth. Due to today's taller office-floor heights and its unusually tall ground floor, The HUB will likely be a contender for Toronto's tallest office building.
LEEDS HOPES TO GET AN INTERNATIONAL ICONIC BUILDING
If it's approved, INC Leeds, designed by BDP, will give Leeds, U.K., a structure that rivals the CCTV headquarters in Beijing, the OMA-designed building sometimes compared to a pair of pants, The Architects' Journal reports. Parklane Group is the developer behind the US$220-million plan, which is 33 stories and includes a 198-room "aparthotel," approximately 160 residential rentals, 200 co-living apartments and 4,000 m2 of co-working space. Amenities are set to include a bar, restaurant, pool, gym and retail. Head of the Leeds City Council Judith Blake praised the "ambitious proposal," describing it as a potential new gateway to the city center. A timeframe was not given.
HOTEL, APARTMENT TOWERS TO JOIN GOLD COAST SKYLINE
The city council in Gold Coast, Australia, has greenlit 34- and 46-story towers at 2-20 River Terrace in Surfers Paradise, a site owned by Chinese developer Sunnyland Group, The Urban Developer reports. The design by Plus Architecture features twisting, stainless-steel-like structures with horizontal bands. Known as River Terrace, the buildings will contain approximately 500 apartments, 280 hotel suites and five townhouses at the podium levels. Rooms will boast views of the ocean and the Nerang River. Notable neighbors include the future tallest building in the Southern Hemisphere, one of the Orion Towers, which is 101 stories and already approved.
