Oasis Specialty Glass Wins 2019 Prism Award!

Oasis Specialty Glass is the proud winner of the 2019 Prism Award for Most Creative/Unique Use of Space for its work with Apex Carpentry LLC and Home Healthsmith LLC., in the design and fabrication of an all glass elevator and shaft for a high-end, three-story town house in Boston’s prestigious Union Wharf.  Oasis Sales Manager, John Nicholas attended the Award Gala with Sales Associate Brett Barker.

Luxury Condo Renovation | Union Wharf
Union Wharf is considered one of the most prestigious addresses on the Boston waterfront. These beautiful granite buildings were built in the 1830s as warehouses and were converted into condominiums in 1978. When Apex Carpentry was hired to renovate one of these luxury condos in 2019, it presented us with a unique problem and solution. The unit owners wanted an elevator system incorporated into the staircase that would allow for easy access to all three floors of the condominium. Because the owners  did not want the elevator and stairwell to feel closed off from the rest of the space, a unique solution was created: A 3.5 story glass elevator shaft featuring low-iron, digitally imaged glass with stairwell surround, and at the center, a complimenting glass elevator. Oasis Specialty Glass worked closely with the builder, engineer and elevator manufacturer to make this design a reality. The result is a truly inspiring and unique solution combining both style and elegance with safety and integrity.

Project: 3 Story Residential Glass Elevator 
Location: Union Wharf Boston
Builder: Apex Carpentry LLC
Architect: Timothy Burke Architecture
Engineer: Structures Workshop
Elevator Company: Home Healthsmith LLC
Glass Company: Oasis Specialty Glass
Description: Residential glass elevator and shaft with staircase surround
Features: 1/2” Low iron glass featuring digitally imaged glass. 
Hardware: Brushed Stainless Steel, 20 side-lites (6 lites digitally imaged), 3 Doors. 

Feature: Staircase and floor edges were cleverly concealed with digitally Imaged glass templated by Oasis Specialty Glass. This technique was critical for hiding unfinished woodwork and areas otherwise inaccessible to cleaning.

About the Glass
A Builder with a Vision | Fabricators with a Mission

Elevators in a residential home are challenging enough, but when the esthetics require it to be made of glass, stylish and sleek, with minimally exposed inner workings, few visionaries rise to the occasion. Oasis Specialty Glass and Apex Carpentry teamed up with Timothy Burke Architecture, engineer Erik Nelson (Structures Workshop Inc.) and Bill Bohmbach (Home Health Smith LLC, Elevator Company), to make this vision a reality. The combination of inventive engineering, building know-how and glass installation expertise by Oasis Specialty Glass created a truly breathtaking solution for this unique living space.

Challenges
The main challenge with a glass elevator shaft is hiding the edges of the surrounding staircase construction. We wanted the staircase to surround the glass shaft without unfinished carpentry visible from within the elevator. To solve this problem, hand made templates were painstakingly drawn to indicate where the glass would be digitally imaged in order to hide areas were the shaft cut through each floor and where staircase edges were exposed. The result was a clean and easy to maintain solution that gives the illusion of the glass cutting cleanly through the structure of the room. Because the images are permanently embedded in the glass, no future painting or cleaning would be required for those areas of the shaft wall. Each glass panel was templated and installed by Oasis craftsmen for this truly stunning result. 

In conjunction with the clean look of pure glass, all of the control wiring for the call buttons on each of the three floors was concealed within a finished vertical wood beam that matched existing framing beams throughout the residence. The elegant solution maximized the minimalist esthetic of the entire project.

Check Out The Entire Project Below