Latvian National Museum of Art (LNMM)

Riga is proud to present one of the greatest and most expensive architectural projects of the last decades: the renovated Latvian National Museum of Art. Visitors are welcome to watch all aspects of the museum work process: not just the neatly arranged exhibits, but also the archives, the restoration workshop and the powerful elevator for transporting exhibits.

STS contribution to the new museum was the design, manufacture, assembly, certification and maintenance of the powerful underground ELEVATOR for transporting exhibits.

STS professionals used all their experience to design the elevator and its platform, guide rails, stabilizer frame, management and monitoring of the system and the ability to archive the elevator’s parameters.

The high speed elevator (platform size 12.0 x 3.4m) consists of four individual lifting mechanisms that operate simultaniously to lift the platform with the maximum of 40 tons of cargo up to 10 centimeters per second.

The elevator, which is 9 meters deep, is open on the top and transparent inside, therefore completely visible to the onlookers. The glass opening serves as a light source, and is compatible with the updated building concept – to make all processes visible to the visitors of the museum.

Particular attention was paid to security – the elevator is equipped with dual brake system. The smooth control of the process (the speed, load, position and other parameters) is ensured by the control panel, which is monitored in real time by STS team in Lithuania.

The entire lifting system is installed in field conditions. Platform lifts are made of non-corrosive materials, coated with a special protective coating used in the North Sea oil platforms. The elevator is equipped with automatic systems to protect the facilities against flooding.

The foundations of Riga’s museum building are constantly rinsed with groundwater, so the STS designers were brought to a challenging task: to accommodate the lifting mechanisms in two times lower height than the height Swiss engineers had allowed in the original renovation project.

As a result, all lifting mechanisms were designed and installed extremely compactly. Using Serapid lifts, the STS team packed the whole elevator system in 1 meter deep pit.

ADDITIONALLY the museum was equipped with electrified curtain and roller systems, lighting and sound systems.