by Shane Henson — January 17, 2014—KONE Corporation, a global designer and provider of elevators and escalators, recently announced three contract awards that led to more of its elevators being used in London and two cities in China.
London, United Kingdom
In London, Kone won an order to fully replace 15 elevators and modernize a further four elevators at six busy London Underground stations. This order comes as part of the Tube improvement plan. The customized KONE MiniSpace elevators equipped with KONE EcoDisc hoisting machines will carry up to 50 persons at a time from the street level to the station platform. For example, at Bank station, KONE’s new elevators will carry over 4,000 people per hour, meeting the demands of smooth people flow at peak times. All the elevators will be fitted with the KONE E-Link remote monitoring system to ensure high availability of the equipment, the company says.
The first elevator upgrade will begin at the Gloucester Road station in 2014, with the final elevators to be installed at Lambeth North in 2017. The contract will also include the preventive maintenance of the equipment until 2034, and modernization packages when the need for upgrades arises. KONE’s dedicated team currently maintains 150 escalators and 45 elevators, which accounts for a third of the London Underground’s equipment base, the company says.
Liuzhou, Guangxi Province, China
In China, KONE won an order to provide 36 eco-efficient elevators and four escalators to Liuzhou Diwang International Fortune Center. The four-building, mixed-use development will be located in the center of Liuzhou, a major industrial city in the southwest of China. When it is completed at the end of 2014, the 303-meter-high tower will reportedly be the tallest building in Guangxi Province. Most of the floors of the tower building will be dedicated to a five-star hotel, high-grade offices, and a restaurant.
The order includes 15 KONE MiniSpace, 13 KONE 3000 MiniSpace, eight KONE 3000S MonoSpace elevators, and four KONE TravelMaster escalators. These solutions will offer passengers premium ride comfort and enhanced eco-efficiency while traveling within the 72-story building, the company says.
Wuhan, Hubei Province, China
Kone also snagged a contract award for a 10-tower, mixed-use development rising in the commercial center of Wuhan, the capital of Hubei province in China. Located on the banks of the Yangtze River, Wuhan Hualou Street 1 and 2 will be comprised of nine luxury residential buildings placed on top of commercial podiums, as well as an office building.
The residential towers will rise to 174 meters, with the lowest floors dedicated to shops, restaurants, and other commercial uses, and floors 3-57 serving as homes. Forty-seven KONE MiniSpace elevators, seven KONE 3000S MonoSpace elevators, and 10 KONE TransitMaster 120 outdoor escalators will enable smooth people flow for residents and shoppers in the buildings.
In addition, 11 KONE DoubleDeck elevators traveling at a maximum speed of 7 meters per second will serve the 187-meter-high office building, which will have 42 stories above ground level. The office tower will also house two KONE MiniSpace elevators and six KONE TravelMaster 110 indoor escalators. The entire mixed-use development will contain 599,300 square meters of floor space on a 115,000-square-meter plot of land, reportedly making it the biggest luxury waterfront landmark in the city. KONE E-link will enable the remote monitoring of all equipment on the site, says KONE.
