There’s a new home for entertainment in Metro Manila. Located in Quezon City, in the north of the Philippines capital, Solaire Resort North integrates a hotel, casino, and business facilities, complete with a range of restaurants providing a unique experience – whether you’re visiting for business or leisure. Our team installed a total of 67 elevators and escalators, helping guests navigate the resort’s 156,000 square meters, to ensure that the fun never stops.
Entering Solaire North Resort's huge entrance hall, you know you’re in for a unique experience. You're immediately greeted by the Mangrove – the world's tallest indoor glass sculpture. Glass pillars twist and turn in multiple strands, stretching 40 meters toward the atrium ceiling. Flanking these pillars, our escalators provide convenient access to the resort's four gaming levels above.
From the ground floor elevator lobby – stylishly decorated to match the rest of the resort – you have countless options. With 38 floors to explore, you can either head up to the casino or choose from the resort’s 14 dining venues, ranging from casual cafes and signature restaurants to premium bars and lounges. If you’re visiting for business, you have access to the building’s meeting, conference, and exhibition facilities – including an expansive 1,800-square-meter pillarless grand ballroom that can accommodate more than 1,600 guests or be divided into three halls for smaller events.
On the eighth floor, you can enjoy the 1,400-square-meter state-of-the-art health club, which includes a gym, a relaxing spa, an outdoor swimming pool with a kids’ waterpark, and a fun-filled indoor Kids’Club. And of course, if you’ve checked in for the night, the elevators will help you make your way comfortably up to one of the resort hotel’s 530 guest rooms and suites.
"Given the nature of Solaire Resort North, with guests constantly moving between different areas of the building, the elevators and escalators are essential in keeping everything running smoothly," says Rachel Thu, Managing Director of Jardine Schindler in the Philippines.
Given the nature of Solaire Resort North, with guests constantly moving between different areas of the building, the elevators and escalators are essential in keeping everything running smoothly," says Rachel Thu, Managing Director of Jardine Schindler in the Philippines.
Solaire Resort North officially opened in May 2024, and throughout the resort, our team installed a total of 42 elevators and 25 escalators.
While our units now help visitors and staff navigate the multiple locations smoothly and efficiently, the installation process was not always plain sailing. The biggest challenge was meeting the tight deadlines required to deliver all our units on time.
"In a project like this, your timeline isn't always under your control," says Alvhin Ballecer, our Project Manager. "There were so many teams on-site that we had to coordinate and schedule our work accordingly."
However, due to circumstances out of our team’s control, the installation start date was pushed back several times, leaving our team with a shorter window to complete the work. Instead of delaying, Alvhin and his team, through careful planning and expert coordination, were able to navigate these challenges and complete every milestone on time during construction.
To increase the level of safety and efficiency on-site during installation, our team used our globally standardized Schindler Scaffold Less Installation Methodology (Schindler SLIM), which is embedded into Schindler TREX.
Compared to traditional methods, it can save up to 30% in installation time. It provides a safe working platform and allows the installation to be broken down into stages for increased flexibility during construction.
Schindler TREX – our project management system specifically designed to guide our large projects through their entire life cycle – also helped Alvhin coordinate efforts and keep the project on track, even under tight time constraints. Having completed his Schindler TREX training in Malaysia and Indonesia, he was well equipped with the knowledge and resources to make this project a success. But it also required a lot of work.
"This was a true display of hard work, dedication, and what 24/7 really means," says Alvhin. Over a period of three months, we had a team of up to 90 fitters working 12-hour shifts on rotation seven days a week. "It was challenging, and a lot of long hours, but ultimately it was very rewarding. Everyone on the team did a great job," adds Alvhin.
"We’re immensely proud of what our team achieved, and their work ethic throughout the whole installation process and handover," says Rachel.
Now that the new entertainment hub is open for business, it’s the resort’s turn to be on the go 24/7. To help it operate around the clock, 14 of the 42 elevators our team installed are service elevators, helping to keep the restaurants, bars, and cafes fully stocked, as well as providing quick and efficient access when catering for events and room service.
They also include three cargo lifts for heavy lifting – real heavy lifting. One of these elevators has even been used to transport cars up for an event in the resort.
"There was actually quite a bit of space left in the elevator, after the car had been driven into it," says Alvhin, with a big smile on his face. Measuring four meters wide and three meters deep, it can carry up to five tons in weight. "It’s one of the largest elevators in the Philippines, and it provides the client so many options [in terms of what they can move around] for events."
It also wouldn’t be a five-star destination without dedicated VIP access. With three VIP elevators, bespoke access is guaranteed throughout the resort – from the underground parking bays right up to the rooftop helipad.
Away from the ballroom, gaming levels, and rooftop pool, the resort has one other very special room – the control room. Here, the whole building is monitored to keep everything safe and secure. This is where our team have set up Schindler Lobby Vision – our supervisory monitoring system for elevators and escalators – which provides real-time performance and location updates on our units.
It allows us to stay ahead of the game and keep everything running smoothly," says Sam Ng, Existing Installations Business Director in the Philippines
"Lobby Vision makes it easy to keep track of what’s going on with all the units in the resort," says Sam Ng, our Existing Installations Business Director in the Philippines. "It allows us to stay ahead of the game and keep everything running smoothly."
Schindler Lobby Vision can be set up to individual client specifications – it can be used to monitor multiple systems across an entire group of buildings, or a single group of elevators from a reception desk.
With that in mind, we also have a team of dedicated maintenance technicians always on-site. "Usually, we have two teams of two technicians who are on rotation 24/7," explains Sam, adding that the teams expand to three during major events. "Our technicians are always on hand to make sure the fun never stops!"