Kone lifts ... will travel at 8 m/s at<br>the Infinity Tower

KONE Corporation, one of the largest elevator and escalator manufacturers worldwide, recently won an order to supply eight customised high-rise elevators for the new Infinity Tower in Dubai in the UAE.
Three of the elevators will travel at a speed of 8 m/s across a maximum distance of 271 m. The installation of the equipment will start next year and is estimated to be completed in 2011.
With 330 m and 75 floors, the Infinity Tower will be the highest ‘twisting’ building in the world. Located in the Dubai Marina, it will provide unobstructed views over the surrounding The Palm, Jumeirah and the Arabian Gulf.
Due to the challenging profile of the building, the elevator shafts take an unconventional circular shape, which required Kone to use its expertise in designing customised solutions to serve the people flow needs of the tower. In addition, Kone’s pioneering EcoDisc hoisting machine helped to solve the requirements of the high vertical travel combined with limited space for machine rooms.
“We are very delighted to be associated with Cayan Investment and Development, the developer for this project,” says Eric Maziol, Kone EVP and area director for South and West Europe and the Middle East. “This project confirms once again our valued partnership with Arabtec Construction, the main contractor for the Infinity Tower, and one of our most valuable customers in the Middle East.”
Kone also won an order to supply 14 elevators for the high-rise Anthill Residence project in Istanbul, Turkey. The client for the project is the Turkish company Ant Yapi, who has also worked with Kone in the past, notably on the Capital City project in Moscow where Kone supplied 52 elevators and six escalators.
The project consists of two residential towers with 54 floors each. The elevators will carry passengers to their floor at a speed of 6 m/s. The Anthill Residence towers will be the first in Turkey to use high-rise elevators powered by Kone EcoDisc technology, making it also a pioneer in terms of energy efficiency.
“This order clearly demonstrates the interest in Kone’s EcoDisc technology for high-rise buildings and the company’s increasing foothold in Turkey,” says Maziol.
The installation of equipment will start this December and is estimated to be complete in December 2010.
For many years now, Kone has been developing innovative solutions to ease the movement of people in buildings worldwide while decreasing its impact on the environment.
Since its commercial launch in 1996, the Kone EcoDisc hoisting machine has cumulatively saved the equivalent of a typical power plant’s production. This figure represents avoiding the consumption of 2 million barrels of oil, or the emissions of 100,000 cars driving the earth’s circumference.
“Kone places environmental issues high on its corporate agenda when launching its new development programmes, one of which was environmental excellence, in early 2008,” says Jussi Oijala, senior vice-president of Kone Technology.
As Oijala puts it: “Buildings account for approximately 40 per cent of the world’s energy needs and elevators can account for up to 10 per cent of a building’s energy consumption. Based on this, we see great potential to further reduce the impact of buildings on the environment by offering innovative and energy-efficient solutions to the market.”
During this year, the company will be unveiling a range of energy-efficient elevators that will cut consumption by 30 per cent compared to its current volume models.
Powered by the Kone EcoDisc hoisting machine, the next generation of Kone machine-room-less elevators will combine new regenerative solutions with impressive standby energy-saving capabilities.
Additional energy-efficient features such as LED lights in the cabins will allow further reduction of energy consumption.
Kone also targets a 50 per cent energy consumption cutback in its elevator offering by 2010.