Business moves of all kinds around the world

Mitsubishi and Partners Establish Company in Myanmar

Mitsubishi Corp. and its partners have established MC Elevator Ltd. in Myanmar in an effort to strengthen their foothold in a sovereign state where urban development is brisk as the government moves toward democracy. Mitsubishi has been distributing elevators, escalators and related products in Myanmar since 1998, and in early April, established an office in Yangon (ELEVATOR WORLD, June 2013). The new company, expected to be operational by summer 2014, will provide technical services and solutions, installation, testing and commissioning. Mitsubishi, which will hold a 60% stake in MC Elevator, believes this will result in more effective customer service. Mitsubishi’s partners are First Myanmar Investment Ltd. and Yoma Strategic Investments Ltd., which will each hold a 20% stake.

Alimak Hek Expands Capabilities with Acquisition

Alimak Hek Group AB, a rack-and-pinion industrial elevator specialist based in Stockholm, has acquired the offshore operations of Heis-Tek, a Norwegian traction-elevator company serving the oil and gas industry. The deal was expected to close in June. With the acquisition, Alimak Hek expands its offerings to include traction-based elevators and service. Heis-Tek has 38 employees. Alimak Hek president and CEO Tormod Gunleiksrud observed:

“This acquisition will allow us to become a more complete provider of vertical access solutions to our customers in the oil and gas industry, which is one of our prioritized sectors. Heis-Tek has a long history of serving these customers, and is a very good fit with Alimak Hek. The acquired expertise and market strength will provide new growth opportunities for the group.”

Steel to Lead Avire Management in Shanghai

Halma has promoted Ian Steel, former managing director of Fire Fighting Enterprises Ltd. (FFE), to group managing director of Avire Ltd., lift safety and communication systems provider. Both FFE and Avire are Halma companies within Halma’s Infrastructure Safety Sector. Steel has relocated to Shanghai, where he will be based.

Prior to his current position, Steel was managing director of FFE for more than six years. He has more than 20 years’ experience in marketing and sales of electronic detectors, monitors and related products and services that guarantee infrastructure safety in commercial and residential properties. Steel studied chemistry at Halton Technical College.

Avire reports that its Shanghai branch has developed steadily in the past year with the new TL Jones K Class product developed for the Chinese market. Nigel Trodd, Halma’s sector chief executive of Infrastructure Safety, said Steel’s “industry experience and insight are great assets for the long-term sustainable growth of Avire. And, his board presence in Shanghai is expected to accelerate actions for the China market.”

Lerch Bates Names Gauthier Calgary Project Manager

Lerch Bates Inc. has named Paul Gauthier project manager for the Calgary, Canada, market. Gauthier’s duties include providing vertical-transportation consulting services for design, maintenance and modernization projects in what Lerch Bates describes as “the biggest office-development market in Canada.” Gauthier comes to Lerch Bates with more than 15 years of industry experience, most recently serving as National Accounts manager for Fujitec Canada. A graduate of Southern Alberta Institute of Technology in Calgary, he began his career with ThyssenKrupp Dover, now ThyssenKrupp Elevator.

Formula Systems/Airdri in Europe, China

Formula Systems, the elevator-door detection division of U.K. hand-dryer company Airdri Ltd., has appointed two new European distributors: VARIO Lift is covering the Benelux countries of Belgium, Netherlands and Luxembourg, while Seve SARL, a division of the PRISMA Group, is covering France. While welcoming them to the team, Group Commercial Director James Clark stated they will play a key role in expanding Formula Systems’ global distributor base.

Meanwhile, Airdri opened a new facility in Guangzhou, China. Located near Airdri’s Chinese production partner, the facility is home to a newly formed sales team with a focus on expanding its elevator-safety business to distributors, partners and potential customers. Clark noted: “We already service large customers in China and the wider region, but see this as a major opportunity to accelerate our sales through this new team.”

Planned 64-Story Mumbai Development

A new mixed-use development planned near Mumbai’s city center blends size and luxury. A Lodha Group project, New Cuffe Parade is set to consist of 10, 64-story residential towers plus a commercial building on a heavily landscaped 10 ha with pools, clubhouse and sporting amenities, designboom reports. Designed by WOHA architects, it will boast an expansive courtyard and views of the Arabian Sea. Located approximately 20 min. from downtown, the development is scheduled for completion in 2018.

Schindler Projects

The company’s current and upcoming jobs make big impacts worldwide.

Nearly 300 Units in Four Chinese Projects

Schindler is supplying a total of 291 units to four large, mixed-use projects in China. They are:

• The U Center, described by Schindler as one of the largest projects in Shanghai in 2014: Schindler will supply 68 escalators and 81 elevators, including 42 high-rise 7000 units, to the development, set to include an office tower and hotel.
• Suning Plaza in Xuzhou: Schindler will supply 55 elevators, including 21 7000 series, to this Aedis-designed development that will include a hotel, offices and apartments.
• Yintai Center in Chengdu: designed by John Portman & Associates, this ambitious city-within-a-city consists of a retail podium connecting buildings containing apartments, hotel rooms and retail establishments. Schindler will be supplying 40 7000 elevators and four 5500s.
• Twin Towers in Guiyang: a pair of 65-story, 300-m-tall towers will house stores, offices and hotel rooms. Schindler is providing 43 7000s for this project.

107 Units for Rennes Métropole

Schindler has been hired by the Rennes, France, transportation authority, Rennes Métropole, to provide 43 elevators and 64 escalators for a new subway line in Rennes. Located in northwestern France, the system is forecast to grow from handling more than 70 million to 120 million trips per year by 2020. The order includes customizable 5500 elevators and 9300 escalators, which Schindler describes as having a reputation for reliability and efficiency in high-traffic areas. The new line is slated to open in late 2019.

Specialized Outdoor Escalators in Dubai

Schindler has been hired to provide seven highly specialized, energy-efficient, weather-resistant outdoor escalators for The Walk at Jumeirah Beach Residence (JBR) in Dubai Marina. The 9300 units are among only a few fully outdoor escalators in the world, according to Schindler. Developed by Dubai Properties, The Walk is a 1.7-km-long retail and entertainment strip at the ground level of JBR, a waterfront community overlooking the Persian Gulf in Dubai Marina.

Israel’s Tallest Building Approved

Azorim Investment, Development and Construction Ltd. is expected to begin construction of Israel’s tallest building this year. The company will build a 256-m-tall, 65-floor residential building in Ramat Gan. An observatory will be located on the top floor, which will include a café with a panoramic vista. The 3.75-acre lot will include another building, for offices, under a separate plan. While the 68-floor Moshe Aviv tower sits across the street, its height is only 235 m.

A Globes interview of city engineer Haim Cohen revealed the plan is “critical for the city, because it will increase the housing supply in a high-demand area with good transportation access, including the future Tel Aviv Metropolitan Light Railway.” It is predicted to be the tallest residential building in the Middle East and popular due to its location at the nexus of Tel Aviv, Ramat Gan and Givatayim.

KONE Awarded 341-Unit Contract for Istanbul Development

KONE has been awarded a contract to supply and service 341 units in the 24-tower, mixed-use development Maslak 1453 in Istanbul. Scheduled for completion in 2016, Maslak 1453 will house close to 5,000 residential units, as well as offices, stores and art galleries. Stated Pierre Liautaud, area director for KONE West and South Europe:

“Maslak 1453 is referred to as the new standard setter in the booming property market of Istanbul. We are truly excited that our efforts to develop energy-efficient technology and deliver high-quality service are paying off and have resulted in us winning this project.”

The order consists of 134 MonoSpace® and 131 MiniSpaceTM elevators, 72 TravelMaster TM 110 escalators and four TravelMaster 115 moving walks. The office elevators will utilize the PolarisTM destination-control system.

Hong Kong Extends Vertical Lifting Platform Travel

Intended to address increasing demand from the disabled and elderly for more useful vertical lifting platforms and promote barrier-free access in Hong Kong, the Code of Practice on the Design and Construction of Lifts and Escalators (2012 Edition) has been modified. In it, the limit of travel height of the powered vertical lifting platforms has been extended from 4 to 7 m. This height is the equivalent to two upper-floor stops. Additionally, cross-references for barrier-free access have been updated in the code to align with the development.

Event Announcements

September’s Symposium on Lift & Escalator Technologies in the U.K. and next year’s Interlift in Germany look to provide improved experiences and more opportunities.

Lift Symposium Program

The CIBSE Lifts Group and University of Northampton have released the program for the 4th Symposium on Lift & Escalator Technologies, taking place at Highgate House in Northampton, U.K., on September 25-26. Presentations include the following:

• “A New Paradigm for Assessing the Effectiveness of Up-Peak Group Control Algorithms” by Lutfi Al-Sharif
• “Modelling of Elevator Traffic Systems Using Queuing Theory” by Lutfi Al-Sharif, Ahmad M. Abu Alqumsan, Weam Ghanem, Islam Tayeh and Areej Jarrar
• “The History of Lift Traffic Control” by Dr. Gina Barney
• “Modernising a Paternoster” by Michael S. Bottomley
• “The Remaining UK Water Balance Inclined Lifts” by David A. Cooper
• “Reverse Journeys and Destination Control” by Stefan Gerstenmeyer and Dr. Richard Peters
• “Elevator Books 1890–1940” by Dr. Lee Gray
• “Hybrid Group Control Systems in Office Buildings” by Len Halsey
• “Lift Modernisation. The Lost Art of Lift Engineering” by Roger Howkins and Kate Hibner
• “Computer Simulation Model of a Lift Car Assembly with an Active Tuned Mass Damper” by Stefan Kaczmarczyk and Seyed Mirhadizadeh
• “The Calculation of Stress Distribution of Big Rope Sheaves” by Thomas Kuczera
• “The Effect of Randomization on Constraint Based Estimation of Elevator Trip Origin-Destination Matrices” by Juha-Matti Kuusinen and Arnaud Malaper
• “The Development of a Low- to Mid-Rise Energy Efficient, Green Lift System”  by R. Kwiatkowski, H. Su, Kaczmarczyk, C. Salter and L. Mulhern
• “Escalator Safety Steps”  by Jack Levy and David Chan
• “Life Cycle Analysis of Lifts” by Ana M. Lorente Lafuente
• “Lift System Calculations in EN 81-50” by Nick Mellor
• “Elevator Systems in High-Rise Buildings: Handling Capacity and Energy Efficiency” by Jörg Müller
• “Comparing the Energy Consumption of Elevators with Different Drive Technologies” by Stephan Rohr and Ingo Pletschen
• “The Importance of Choosing the Correct Door for Different Applications” by Tommaso Sala and Giuseppe De Francesco
• “Modelling and Simulation of a Non-Stationary High-Rise Elevator System to Predict the Dynamic Interactions between Its Components” by Rafael Sánchez Crespo, Kaczmarczyk, Phil Picton and Huijuan Su
• “An Overview of the British Council of Offices Guidelines 2014 Vertical Transportation Section” by Adam Scott
• “The Implications of the Lifting Operations and Lifting Equipment Regulations 1998 in Care Homes” by Laura Smith
• “Under Elevatored Buildings in the Middle East” by Rory S. Smith
• “Human Body Size in Lift Traffic Design” by Janne Sorsa, Mirko Ruokokoski and Marja-Liisa Siikonen
• “Lift Gear Failure” by Steve Webb

Complete abstracts are available on the symposium’s website: www.liftsymposium.org.

Interlift Dates, Details

The next Interlift event has been scheduled for October 13-16, 2015. The traditional location, the Augsburg Trade Fair Centre in Augsburg, Germany, has recently been upgraded to offer exhibitors the chance to increase their participation. Exhibitors and visitors will enter the trade fair through a new, central entrance area leading to the “CUBE,” a 3,000-m² modern lightweight-construction exhibition hall with 8-m-high ceilings. The hall is free of columns, and from it, the trade-fair circuit will continue through exhibition halls 1 and 7. This and the other new exhibition hall, Hall 4, make it possible to allocate bigger exhibition stands.

Organizer AFAG Messen und Ausstellungen GmbH expects continued growth, building on the 2013 iteration of the event, which was the largest of its kind. Hall planning is beginning this August, and participating companies are asked to apply before then for preferred position. For more information, contact AFAG at email: interlift@afag.de or website: www.interlift.de.

Russia Leads European Tall-Building Boom

Emporis reported in May that buildings in Russia are on the rise. In St. Petersburg, the Lakhta Center is under construction with a revised plan making the tapering, pointed supertall top out at 462.7 m. This would surpass the continent’s current tallest skyscraper, Mercury City in Moscow, by 124 m.

Two other Russian buildings in the works are also planned to surpass Mercury City’s height. Both in Moscow, the Vostok and OKO Apartment Tower edifices are set to reach 360.5 and 351.8 m, respectively. Due to these and several other supertalls planned for the city, Emporis expects Moscow to be Europe’s skyscraper capital for some time.

Istanbul is expected to add tall buildings to Europe’s list in the next two years. Its two Skyland towers are to reach 284 m in height, and The Metropol Tower is planned to be 250 m tall. While this is only a quarter of the projected height of the under-construction Kingdom Tower, still planned for a 2019 completion (ELEVATOR WORLD, April 2014), the upward trend in Europe is still of record-setting proportion.

Proposal, Major Contracts in U.K.

Country sees its tallest building on horizon; maintenance contracts renewed for busy transportation facilities.

Tallest Residential Tower in U.K. for London

Foster + Partners has submitted plans for a residential development at London’s Canary Wharf that, if built, would include the tallest residential tower in the U.K. at 73 stories, de zeen reports. A project of Berkeley Homes, South Quay Plaza would also include a 36-story tower and ground-level retail and dining. It is similar to Irish investor Tom Ryan’s proposed 72-story Hertsmere Tower, also for Canary Wharf (ELEVATOR WORLD, February 2014).

Stannah Lands Pair of Rail Contracts

U.K. lift company Stannah has landed a pair of rail contracts worth approximately GBP35.7 million (US$59.9 million). They are:

• Renewal of a contract first won in 1995 with Network Rail to maintain its lift portfolio through 2024. Network Rail has approximately 950 units, and that is forecast to grow. The 10-year contract extension is worth approximately GBP35 million (US$58.7 million).
• A contract to replace 20 cars and 29 doors for Docklands Light Railway (DLR) over the next 18 months, work valued at approximately GBP675,000 (US$1.1 million).

Calling the contracts a “double win” for Stannah in the rail industry, Jon Stannah, managing director of Stannah Lift Services, stated:

“Our work within the rail sector has grown significantly in the last 10 years. Our renewed contract with Network Rail and a further contract with DLR will mean our engineers will be working day and night in order to prevent downtime for the thousands of railway travelers across the network every day.”  

KONE to Maintain Heathrow Airport

KONE has secured a five-year contract extension to maintain the elevators, escalators and moving walks at all Heathrow Airport Ltd. terminals, including its new Terminal 2 building in London. Around-the-clock service will facilitate the transportation of the estimated 72 million passengers per year. The contract includes 1,000 units across all of its terminals and covers the maintenance of Terminal 2 through 2019. Aside from having modernized and supplied new vertical-transportation equipment to Heathrow Airport, KONE has been providing maintenance for them there since 1990.