Vault Door Book?

[wylk]

OK, here is my "catalog" of vault locations: http://w3.uwyo.edu/~jimkirk/locations.html

Comments/corrections not only welcome, but requested. It may be a little cryptic in places, I didn't have public consumption in mind when I started. For example when I write "[Mosler xxx]" that refers to an official Mosler history published in 1999.

I have uploaded an updated version. Most (all?) of the major additions have also been posted here on antique-locks. I've identified many more vaults that were engineered by Frederick S. Holmes. And there are minor updates and corrections. It's now an even 200 pages.

[VaultDoors]

Here are all the articles by Frederick S. Holmes I could find:

Bank Vault Construction and Equipment from The Lure of the Lock, 1928 (see attached)
Modern Practice in the Design of Bank Vaults - Part 1: Protective Principles and Construction Methods from The Brickbuilder, May 1916
Modern Practice in the Design of Bank Vaults - Part 2: The Requirements of Small Banks from The Brickbuilder, June 1916
The Design and Construction of Modern Bank Vaults from The Architectural Review, March 1905 (see attached)
Vault Building Problems from The Bankers Magazine, 1911 (see attached)

Please post any additional Holmes articles you find.

[Safeone]

Here's a video of the One King West vault door in action.

Amazing !! Thanks for posting

[VaultDoors]

Here are all the articles by Frederick S. Holmes I could find:

Holmes is quoted in this article - World's Largest Treasure Vault from Technical World Magazine, 1912:

[Adrian Weber]

The articles by Frederick S. Holmes are indeed a very interesting read, I will browse through them more in detail within the next and maybe compare them to a German book on vault room positioning and construction. It is from 1922 and also a very interesting read

It is also interesting how everyone claims to have the biggest vault door or vault construction in the world

Thanks again friend!

Adrian

[VaultDoors]

Here are all the articles by Frederick S. Holmes I could find:

The Holmes article in The Lure Of The Lock notes at the bottom of page 220, “Abridged from The Architectural Forum..." Here is the unabridged article from The Architectural Forum, June 1928 which contains five additional sections of text, two additional pictures and four drawings. The original article swapped the Security and Emergency door captions which are corrected in The Lure Of The Lock version.

[wylk]

Here's another location that is a bit interesting, partly because it's hard to pin down for sure.



The above picture was for sale on eBay, originally described as National City Bank in New York (per a tag on the back of the photo) but the day gate says "Kent State Bank." One might guess this was in Kent, Ohio, but they had a Kent National Bank. There was a Kent State Bank in Kent, Minnesota, but it seems way too small to have had such a vault. I ran across a building in Grand Rapids, Michigan, at 55 Ionia Avenue NW which Emporis claims was built in 1922/1923 and once housed Kent National Bank (http://www.emporis.com/building/mort...drapids-mi-usa). But http://new.site-lab.org/artprize-2014-the-morton describes it as the former home of Kent State Bank. Another article, at http://woodtv.com/2014/04/01/renovat...house-features, states this was “the original location for Kent State Bank, before it was Old Kent Bank.” So it appears likely that this particular Kent State Bank was not related to the Ohio or Minnesota banks. The building is being converted to apartments, perhaps to open in early 2015.

Here is a modern image:



Most of the details match very well, so I'm fairly certain this is the same location as the old photograph for sale on eBay. Unfortunately the day gate is missing (along with one of the timers).

So I am fairly certain the two images are of the same door, in Grand Rapids.

[wylk]

I should also mention that Grand Rapids is in Kent County, Michigan, which is no doubt where the name Kent State Bank came from.

[wylk]

A slightly unusual door, this time in San Diego.



This is at 1007 Fifth Avenue, Broadway Lofts (http://www.broadwaylofts.com), formerly the First National Trust and Savings Bank (per the building façade on Broadway). Built in 1909, renovated in 2004 (http://legacy.utsandiego.com/news/me...-7m10bank.html, http://www.emporis.com/building/broa...andiego-ca-usa). Notice the unusual central area, as well as the roller bearings supporting the bolts. The central area, which looks like it might possibly rotate, is something I've not seen elsewhere except for one image I stumbled across (location unknown):



So, two questions: Who made this door (in the second image, the builder's plate can be seen but not read). And, does this round/sectored plate rotate or stand still while the boltwork is operated?

[Warren63]

OK, here is my "catalog" of vault locations: http://w3.uwyo.edu/~jimkirk/locations.html

Comments/corrections not only welcome, but requested. It may be a little cryptic in places, I didn't have public consumption in mind when I started. For example when I write "[Mosler xxx]" that refers to an official Mosler history published in 1999.

An extensive and much appreciated piece of work. Thanks for taking the time to share your work with everyone. My knowledge and interest as a collector will be much improved because of your work.