Elevator Addition for Nanjing University Faculty Housing

Nanjing University (Faculty Residential Compound), Nanjing, Jiangsu Project Type: Retrofit elevator addition for existing 6-storey residential buildings Scope: Survey, custom shaft design, fabrication, installation and commissioning

The faculty residential compound at Nanjing University consists of low-rise apartment blocks built in the 1980s and 1990s. Like most legacy housing in Chinese cities, these buildings were constructed without elevator provision, leaving elderly residents facing a daily climb of five to six flights of stairs.

The technical challenge was not budget — it was geometry. Structural load limits, narrow stairwells and shared entryways left no standard footprint for a conventional shaft. A fixed catalogue solution could not be applied.

Valin's engineering team carried out on-site structural surveys building by building, then developed a customized light-steel shaft system that could be anchored to the existing frame without exceeding allowable loads. Site access was sequenced around residents' daily routines to minimise disruption.

The project was delivered and commissioned on schedule. The compound now has a working addition elevator serving all floors, and the solution has become a reference design for other campus housing blocks.