Mall order, safety code mandate

KONE Wins Order for 69 Units at Mall

KONE has won an order to supply 69 elevators and escalators to Funan DigitaLife Mall, a mixed-use development. The mall is designed as a unique lifestyle destination, and will follow a live-work-play model. The integrated development will include two premium Grade A office towers, a residential block and a retail component. KONE will supply 28 S MonoSpace® elevators, one Transys® elevator with a maximum travel speed of 2.5 mps, and 40 TravelMaster™ 110 escalators. “The redevelopment of Funan DigitaLife Mall as a home for innovation and local creative talents is highly anticipated, and we are definitely proud to be a part of it,” said Axel Berkling, executive vice president for KONE Asia Pacific. Funan DigitaLife Mall is owned by CapitaLand Mall Trust. It was closed in July 2016 for redevelopment, and is slated for completion in at the end of 2019.

Safety Code Mandatory on December 1

A new code for escalator safety in Singapore will become mandatory on December 1, the Straits Times reports. The Building and Construction Authority (BCA) reported that in the last two months of 2016, there were 63 escalator accidents, about one a day. While 95% of all accidents were determined to have been the result of “user behavior,” BCA said, the new standards will include signage for the country’s 6,000 installed escalators, as well as technical improvements for new installations. The code was published in April by Spring Singapore, the national standards board. It requires signs warning riders to hold onto small children, use the handrail and not bring strollers onto the escalator. It also requires new escalators to include safety devices, including sensors to monitor handrail and step speed, and to stop the escalator if a step is missing or improperly installed. Other improvements include headroom requirements, barriers at landings, bright yellow markings along the edges of the steps and laminated, shatter-resistant glass (for units using glass panels). The code was adopted from the EN 115 European standard.