Reliable cleaning of New York’s iconic Beekman Tower ensured by NORD DRIVESYSTEMS

Developing a cleaning gondola to handle the undulating bays and folds of Manhattan’s Beekman Tower – designed by the prestigious architect Frank Gehry – was a challenge which has been successfully met by NORD DRIVESYSTEMS and the Spanish firm GinD. NORD supplied the geared motors and frequency inverters used in the gondola, working closely with GinD, a company specializing in the design, manufacture, and installation of custom systems for maintaining building façades.

At 265 meters, the Beekman Tower is the tallest residential building in the western hemisphere. However, what really makes it stand out is its design – the waves of stainless steel on the outside that, by reflecting the changing light, transform the appearance of the building during the course of the day. Completely asymmetric, with no two sections the same, it is undoubtedly one of the most complex façades ever constructed. The many curves and folds make it very difficult to access the windows by gondola.

Long-time drive supplier
GinD (Góndolas in Design), a Spanish company with its headquarters in Madrid, designed the gondola for the Beekman Tower with the specific purpose of enabling access to all parts of the building's façade. NORD is GinD’s regular supplier of geared motors and frequency inverters, this project being no exception. “We work with NORD on all our projects, since we have the greatest confidence in them at a technical level, the quality is optimum, the post-sales service offers international cover, and the price is competitive within this market,” says Hugo Donoso, Managing Director of GinD.

Custom-tailored gondola system
The project was a significant challenge, given that every aspect of it was custom-made in terms of both design and calculations. The GinD equipment consists of a telescopic arm, a special system of façade guides, and a multi-telescopic pod for accessing the inward-curving surfaces of the building. The machinery supplied by NORD performs various functions, lifting, rotating, and counterbalancing the pod. It also drives the winch and the telescopic unit.

Optimally adapted drive systems
For lifting, NORD has supplied a helical bevel gearbox with a brake motor which turns the gondola's cable drum. An SK 500E frequency inverter smooths out the gondola's stops and starts. It also maintains the gondola's position with respect to the building's façade when the telescope arm is in use.

The counterbalance mechanism (the box located to the rear of the mast) is of fundamental importance since without it the structure would have to be much stronger and therefore heavier and more expensive. The counterweight is moved forwards and backwards by a helical bevel geared motor as the telescopic arm is extended and retracted. This geared motor also maintains the machine's centre of gravity in the center of rotation of the whole apparatus. Another SK 500E frequency inverter is responsible for moving the mass of the counterweight, with acceleration and deceleration ramps.

For rotation, two helical inline geared motors engage a gear ring in order to turn the whole machine, so that the gondola can be used on any face of the building. Here again, an SK 500E frequency inverter softens the starts and stops, and also provides different speeds of rotation, depending on how far the telescopic arm is extended. This is to even out the linear speed as the gondola turns – if the telescopic arm is retracted, the geared motors will work at a higher speed than if it is extended.

The Beekman Tower project also required a winch to be mounted, for raising loads such as new panes of glass to repair the building's façade, or air conditioning equipment, which will have to be raised up to the building's flat roof. The gondola cannot be used for this purpose, since it is only rated to carry the cleaning staff and their relatively light cleaning materials. In this case, NORD again chose a helical bevel geared motor.


Competitive edge
In choosing NORD, GinD's criteria were “quality, service, and worldwide technical support, since we export everything we manufacture,” Hugo Donoso said. He considers that the level of collaboration between these two companies is optimal: “NORD has worked with us in selecting the equipment to be supplied, and has installed it. NORD’s services are available at all times, and all the obstacles which have arisen during the course of the project were resolved by NORD.”

The demanding specifications of this application and the high-end performance of NORD products also were of vital importance. NORD’s geared motors have a permissible radial stress level which is ca. 24% higher than their competitors’ geared motors, and their frequency inverters can tolerate typical overloads which are 25% higher than other manufacturers' machines.

This level of service and performance has been duly appreciated by the end customer, who, according to GinD, is very satisfied. “Since the moment it was installed, the system has been working perfectly. Cleaning the building is a complex process, and the machine is used every day, weather permitting,” says Hugo Donoso. GinD uses NORD products in all its current projects.

GinD company profile
Góndolas in Design (GinD) is a Spanish company specializing in the design, manufacture, and installation of custom systems for maintaining building façades. For more than 20 years, the company has been working to the highest standards of quality and safety with installations in many countries, including the USA, the UAE, Spain, the UK, France, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, and Hong Kong. GinD's team is made up of experts in the field with a vast experience of designing, manufacturing, marketing, and selling the most complex and innovative gondola systems at an international level.

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