A Pearl of a Place

The National Bank of Kuwait Tower offers a fresh TKE VT style to the Middle East.

submitted by TKE

The National Bank of Kuwait (NBK) Tower is a major landmark in the Middle East’s Kuwait City, Kuwait. Inspired by the shape of a pearl, the iconic skyscraper was designed by Foster + Partners Architects. It combines structural innovation with a highly energy-efficient form that shields the offices from Kuwait’s extreme summer weather. The tower’s cylindrical form opens like a shell to the north to avoid solar gain, while revealing views of the Arabian Gulf. The southern façade is shaded by a series of concrete fins that extend the full height of the tower, thus providing structural support.

Challenge

Efficient and reliable vertical transportation (VT) is of great importance to such a skyscraper. The building’s unique shape represented a challenge during the installation of the high-rise elevators, as the core building was designed and built with a vertical deviation to offset the center of gravity of the building.

Standing 300 m and designed to accommodate more than 5,000 people, the NBK Tower requires the use of not only high-speed elevators, but also the most efficient, dynamic and secure VT solutions. This is where TK Elevator (TKE) enters, bringing TWIN elevators and the company’s AGILE Destination Control (DSC) System. 

TKE says it is a good fit for high-rise customized applications like the NBK Tower. Its TWIN elevator system allows two independent elevator cars to operate inside the same shaft, greatly reducing space-use, as well as passengers’ wait and travel times. In terms of traffic flow, the building has been split into two zones, each with the capacity to dispatch 2,500 passengers within the peak period. Passengers belonging to Zone 1 embark from the ground floor, and passengers belonging to Zone 2 embark from the mezzanine. The lower floor is connected to the mezzanine through TKE escalators and, therefore, flexibility and versatility are key to optimizing traffic flow of the building.

Solution

TKE provided 25 units to NBK Tower, including 13 high-rise units, 10 of them state-of-the-art TWIN elevators. The remainder of TKE’s offerings here include single-car machine-room-less (MRL) units, one panoramic unit, a firefighters’ unit, escalators and dumbwaiters, effectively showcasing the company’s comprehensive offerings. The TWIN system offers flexible inter-floor traffic solutions for high rises — an important element for this project.

The TWIN units are grouped together by TKE’s AGILE DSC system. Six units serve from B2 to level 39; another pair of TWIN units from B2 to level 49; and, finally, the last pair from B2 to level 50, a pair that serves as VIP express units.

To optimize traffic and minimize wait time, there are, in addition to the TWINs, three other groups of single-car elevators:

1. One group of two single-car elevators operating above the TWINs. These two units are designed to serve levels above the 50th floor.
2. Another group has service lifts reserved for facility management.
3. The last group consists of podium lifts, which serve a low-level building next to the main tower. This structure hosts an NBK branch.

Working with TWIN and other TKE elevators in harmony, the versatile AGILE DSC creates unprecedented synergy between groups of elevators operating at different locations and speed, thereby optimizing passenger flow and wait time for elevator service.

Strategic Value

Thanks to its rich, natural resources and a strong financial industry, Kuwait is the 20th-largest economy in the world based on gross profit per capita. Successful completion of NBK Tower with a comprehensive range of TKE products and solutions serves the strategic objective of promoting the elevator brand and its products to target Kuwait audiences, including international architect firms, consultants, local corporations and authorities, effectively laying a foundation for future business opportunities in the country and, in a broader sense, the Middle East.

A TKE video showing the TWIN elevator system in action.