Renovator8 - Blast from the past indeed! Hello to you, MightyAnvil and others! I remember the soundproofing debate we all had many years back - very informative (at least for me LOL). I've had some whacky ideas over the years and it's nice to have some unbiased feedback from experienced people like you and others. I'm actually building this condo concept from scratch. Yes, another whacky idea I've been dreaming up for years. I've been wanting to take an urban building (in the middle of the urban core) completely off the grid with the utility only as a back-up. Basically, all the units will operate 100% on photovoltaics coupled with a large Li-Ion battery bank, inverters and BMS. The local utility here is a bit of a tyrant (and monopoly) and has recently come out with a plan to charge flat fees of up to $71/month to residents even if they use no power at all. I realized years back this would happen to power producers so this is the next step in being independent from the utility. I've had a very very hard time getting accurate power consumption figures from elevator manufacturers. The townhome/condo design is one that almost requires the use of the residential elevators to make them easily accessible. Of course there are stairs one could take... but traversing two flights of stairs every day just to access their front door isn't very appealing. I've read mixed reviews about elevators here and reliability seems to be a concern... but then again most of the comments I've come across were for older residential units - not current makes. The machines seem very simple yet are prone to failure more often than I would expect. The installer stated that the units have improved dramatically over the years in terms of reliability, efficiency and cost. I've been told that they are much more reliable than commercial units. But I'm not sure if this is just typical elevator sales guy talk as online reviews are mixed. I was hoping to get some feedback from people that use and rely on their residential elevators on a daily basis. I know people that own residential units here but they rarely use them. I'm going with prestressed/prefabricated concrete panels for this project and the hoistways have already been spec'd per the mfg's requirements. I was originally going to frame out the hoistways but was worried about noise transfer so am now going with concrete enclosures.

Thanks! I was leaning towards the bronze myself, but the decorator we are working with wanted polished nickel. She tends to like grays and silver tones way more than I do.

anele, i haven't got the buffet yet, but it'll be difficult to convince me not to use that buffet as inspiration because i'm in love and love isn't always rational. :) what did you have in mind? also, to paint a bigger picture, this dining room is open to the kitchen and family room, and the family room will have a large fireplace covered floor to ceiling in an old european style dressed fieldstone, large casual comfy sofas... the kitchen will be what i'm dubbing "farm glam" - white shaker style cabinets, black chunky hardware/pulls, large white cast iron sink, chrome finish on farm-style plumbing and light fixtures, shiny aqua backsplash from ann sacks, curvy stainless vent hood with chrome accents. as you can tell, i'm really comfortable with all my individual items not being the obvious choice or matchy matchy. :) i'm sure it's a peeve of plenty of folks on this board to not keep within a period or genre or architectural integrity, but it makes me happy. (i'd post pics, but we just broke ground, so all i've got to show you is a pile of dirt!)

The fire-rating code must be specific to your state or town. It's not universal, as typically the GC just matches the rest of the doors in the house. I googled "fire rated white shaker door" and found this one. More options as well, that was just the first. @hallettco baffles are one way to meet the newest code that prevents more than 3" clearance between the landing and the car doors. You can also install special door frames that set the landing door closer in to the car. What brand of elevator is going in? Inclinator supplies inset frames and doors that go with their elevators.