Up and Down Burj Dubai in Intelligent Elevators

But with an ‘intelligent elevator installation’ mechanism, builders of Burj Dubai ensure a speedy journey from the ground to the 160^th floor.

Emaar Properties, which will unveil Burj Dubai on January 4, has installed 54 elevators and eight escalators to streamline the needs of the residents and visitors to commute within the tower. These elevators mark the highest installation in any building and have been developed by Otis.

The main service elevator that is positioned in the central core of Burj Dubai has the world’s highest elevator rise at 504 metres, surpassing that of ‘Taipei 101’ in Taiwan and is also one-and-a-half times that of the Empire State Building in New York. It moves at a speed of 9 metres per second and also has the world’s longest travelling distance for an elevator. The lift to the spire has the world’s highest landing at 636.9 metres.

“The advanced elevator technologies used in Burj Dubai are designed for seamless performance with a focus on safety, efficiency and the convenience of users,” Abdulla Lahej, Executive Director, Dubai Project Management, Emaar Properties, said.

To move along the length of the tower with ease, elevators are placed into different zones. Each elevator zone serves different audiences, maximising the efficiency and saving time.

The sky lobby is an intermediate floor where residents, guests, office staff will change from an express elevator to a local elevator which stops at each floor within a certain segment of the building. The sky lobbies are located on level 43, 76 and 123 and will include a lounge area.

The elevator grouping will provide an express service to passengers to their destination by bypassing other floors. Passengers enter their chosen floor using keypads or interactive touch screens before entering the elevator. The system, after assessing the passenger requests, automatically assigns the passengers travelling to the same or nearby floors.

The double-deck elevators have built in light and entertainment features and will exclusively serve visitors to At The Top, Burj Dubai, the world’s highest outdoor observation deck situated on level 124. The elevators will travel at a speed of 10 metres per second and can accommodate 12 to 14 people per car.

Unique to the elevators are 24 ‘green technology’ Gen2 machine-roomless elevators featuring flat polyurethane coated seat belts that reduce energy consumption by up to 50 per cent compared with conventional units. These energy-efficient Gen2 elevators do not require any additional lubrication, making them cleaner for the environment.

· afshan@khaleejtimes.com