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PEOPLE FLOW |
helsinki headquarters and hyvinkää
factory and r&D site. The Tytyri high-
rise laboratory was opened in 1998,
and for the first time anywhere in the
world, elevators destined for buildings
over 200 meters tall could be tested in
action before installation.
The conditions at Tytyri are extreme:
elevators have to endure dripping
water, near-freezing temperatures and
high humidity, meaning they are tested
to withstand just about any condition a
building might face. additionally, vari-
ous simulations allow testing for a range
of factors, including how the human
body withstands different speeds and
changes in pressure during the ride.
“at the moment, the highest sensible
speed for people to travel at in an
elevator is 10 meters per second,” says
de Jong, adding that speeds of up to
17 meters per second (or over 60
km/h) can be tested at Tytyri. human
physique, however, sets limits on the
feasibility of super speeds.
visions of a multi-leveleD
future
The KONE ultrarope™ hoisting
technology, introduced in June 2013,
is the next big leap for the high-rise
elevator industry, enabling super long
elevator journeys of one kilometer in
the future – twice the distance currently
feasible. and as buildings grow taller,
they also grow smarter. already, a group
of high-rise elevators can contain a
huge amount of software, with elevators
communicating with each other to
optimize routes and minimize waiting.
De Jong sees digitalization as a major
driving force for the future development
of cities, buildings and elevators. “What
this will mean is completely unknown.
But we need to be ready.”
“Our technology is top of the game.
We can be really proud. Eco-efficiency,
ride comfort – we are very far along
with these,” says KONE head of Tech-
nology for Major Projects
Johannes de
Jong
, explaining what sets KONE apart
in the high-rise elevator market. “and
the way we deal with customers, the
enthusiasm of our people, that’s not
easy to copy. We are a big company,
but there’s still a feeling of family.”
early Days
KONE’s high-rise story began in
the mid-1970s when it bought the
European subsidiaries of american West-
inghouse, doubling its business volume
and gaining skyscraper expertise which,
until then, it had lacked. De Jong joined
the company around the same time.
another milestone was KONE’s
acquisition of australia’s EPL in 1990.
“This is when KONE really went
into the high-rise business.” KONE
also began to understand better the
elements of ensuring a comfortable
high-rise elevator ride, an important
criterion particularly in the increasingly
significant asian market.
Diving to recorD heights
in the mid-1990s, KONE had already
made breakthroughs in its volume
products with the introduction of
innovations such as the world’s first
machine-room-less elevator, the KONE
MonoSpace®. “We started thinking
we needed to have similar products for
high-rises and a place to test them,”
says de Jong.
after initial contemplation on the
construction of a test tower, KONE
started thinking deep rather than tall
and found the Tytyri limestone mine,
less than an hour’s drive from both the
he envisions sky corridors connecting
mega high-rises and elevators that serve
as cars in the sky, moving not just verti-
cally but in all directions in shafts that
house several elevators at a time, not
just one.
“it’s perhaps not the complete future
vision, but i believe this is the future.”
■
Kone high-rise fast facts
■
Fastest commercially installed
KONE elevator speed: 9m/s,
Q1 Tower, Gold Coast,
australia
■
Tallest elevator test shaft:
350 m, Tytyri, Lohja, Finland
■
Longest continuous KONE
elevator journey: 452 m,
Chongqing international
Trade and Commerce Center,
Chongqing, China (due to
open in 2017)
■
Tallest KONE reference
building: Makkah Clock royal
Tower hotel, Mecca, Saudi
arabia (601 m)
Left: Johannes de Jong has a lot to smile about when
he considers the future of high-rise elevator technology.
Right: Once completed in 2017, the Chongqing International
Trade and Commerce Center will house the world’s
highest-traveling KONE elevator.
© kohn pedersen fox/associates (kpf), new york