Big projects let, spiraling towers completed.

thyssenkrupp’s Role in Iconic New Chinese Bridge

By this month, thyssenkrupp plans to have completed installation of 76 escalators and 26 moving walks at the iconic new Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge, the world’s largest ongoing sea-based construction project that links the Pearl River Delta’s three major cities. At 55 km, the bridge will be one of the world’s longest, reducing travel times between Hong Kong, Zhuhai and Macau. The 102 units are going in at the 500,000-m2 Port of Zhuhai built on an artificial island. Operating in a rough environment, the heavy-duty, corrosion-resistant units are built to withstand moisture, salt and high temperatures. Three regional governments began work on the bridge in 2009, and thyssenkrupp began installation in June 2017. “This impressive project in one of the world’s busiest locations shows the need for forward-looking concepts and products,” thyssenkrupp CEO Andreas Schierenbeck said. “It’s great that thyssenkrupp is a key part of it.”

KONE Wins Large Order for Wanbo City Project

KONE has won an order to supply 112 elevators and escalators to Guangzhou Panyu Guangsheng Wanbo City, a mixed-use development in the Wanbo Central Business District that will include commercial, office, hotel and residential space. It will install 26 MonoSpace® and 38 MiniSpace® elevators, which can reach travel speeds of up to 6 mps. The order also includes 48 KONE TravelMaster™ escalators.

“Guangzhou has repeatedly ranked as one of the best cities in China for business,” said William B. Johnson, executive vice president, KONE Greater China. “We are proud to deliver solutions to this urban hub, whose visitors, tenants and customers are likely to add to Guangzhou’s economic vitality.”

Guangzhou Panyu Guangsheng Wanbo City is being developed by Guangzhou Wau Shun Investment Management Co., Ltd. The designer is the Architectural Design and Research Institute of Guangdong Province, and the project is being built by China Construction Second Engineering Bureau, Ltd. Completion is scheduled for 2020.

Twisting Towers for Living, Working, Leisure

In the recently completed Raffles City Hangzhou mixed-use project in Hangzhou, “overlapping levels that spiral around the atrium’s perimeter are connected by escalators and stairs” in a pair of curvaceous 60-story buildings, dezeen reported. The feature is part of a design by UNStudio for CapitaLand that makes the most of natural light and draws inspiration from the nearby Qiantang River. The buildings are positioned between a distinctly urban central business district and green, landscaped areas. Designed as a “lively vertical neighborhood,” the buildings, connected by a six-story podium, contain a hotel, offices, apartments and stores.

New CTBUH Study Reveals Elevator Impacts, Shifts

The Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH) has released new research into the ways improvements in elevator speeds have affected the urban environment. Part of its “Tall Buildings in Numbers” series, the two-page study “Vertical Transport: Ascent & Acceleration” defines the fastest and longest elevator runs, and shows a strong correlation between the increase in elevator speeds and skyscraper heights.

A collaboration with the Guinness Book of World Records to identify the commercial building with the fastest and longest elevators, the study certified Shanghai Tower in Shanghai as the record holder of both categories. At 632 m tall, the building also holds the record for the second tallest in the world. Its elevator speeds top out at 20.5 mps. Archinect explained that while “rapid urbanization has been met with a desire for ambitious ‘super-tall’ skyscrapers” in China, the Middle East has also become a center for future megatall skyscrapers and implementation of high elevator technology, such as KONE UltraRope™.

The paper is available for download at global.ctbuh.org/paper/3377