Riding Fast

Birmann 32, a São Paulo skyscraper, moves people aboard the fastest elevators in Brazil.

The commercial building Birmann 32, known as B32, is a new reference in the skyline of São Paulo, Brazil, the major Latin American city. The building is named after construction entrepreneur Rafael Birmann of Faria Lima Prime Properties (FLPP), which has a major company headquarters in the core of the city’s Faria Lima Avenue. B32 stands out because of its architecture and the large plaza designed by Thomas Balsey, an American landscape architect and partner at SWA/Balsey. This tower and theater, envisioned by Brazilian architect Eiji Hayakawa, completes a brand-new development that has revitalized downtown.

The B32 project was developed by U.S.-based Pei Architects and led by Chien Chung “Didi” Pei. When Pei visited São Paulo to consider the area, he noted that nearly all Faria Lima Avenue structures feature rectangular and uniform designs facing the avenue. He wanted B32 to be different, projecting a modular, trimmed façade. Birmann, on the other hand, wanted B32 to feature a large whale sculpture that would interact with the city.

VT at the Project

Employees and visitors enjoy a unique experience at B32: The fastest elevators in Brazil that travel at 7m, or three stories, per s. TK Elevator (TKE) supplied and installed 27 elevators — four at the theater and 23 in the tower — featuring integrated engineering solutions that result in an innovative experience for the passengers.

TKE was able to meet FLPP’s requirements. The building company set as a prerequisite “to be the most technological corporate building in the country,” sources said. Accordingly, the elevators were fundamental in such a building because the equipment is strongly involved in the arrival and exit of the premises.

Paulo Henrique Estefan, operation vice president for Latin America at TKE, points out:

“B32 boasts a unique design, and the elevators reflect the state-of-the art engineering combining the most advanced technology for operation, control and software. With elevators that reach an up-to-now unparalleled speed in Brazil, we pave the way to new projects that can challenge modern engineering with yet more complex characteristics.”

To add to the project, Rafael Birmann noted:

“At B32, we are very satisfied, because we have two elevator areas. When you come inside the tower, the elevators can be easily visualized. There are buildings where the architecture forgets the relationship between the elevators and the lobby, bringing about inconveniences. These tiny, seemingly insignificant details become gigantic over time.”

Intelligent Connections

At B32, TKE offers safe, fast and efficient mobility. Despite the speed, passengers feel as though the elevators are stalled, though the panel indicator shows fast progress up or down. Within 50 s, one of the elevators will arrive from the ground level to the top of the tower, 125 m high, where riders can enjoy a bird’s eye view of the city.

In addition to the speed, TKE’s AGILE Destination Control technology connects the elevators with intelligent solutions installed in the building. This innovative system moves passengers to their destinations more efficiently. Unlike traditional operation, passengers use terminals located in the lobby to select their destination floor. The intelligent dispatch software analyzes the request, gauging traffic demand and grouping passengers according to their similar destinations. AGILE clearly directs each passenger to an assigned elevator, putting them aboard the elevator that will most intelligently transport them to their selected floors. This system avoids crowds and lines, allows for fewer stops, uses elevator capacity more efficiently, and reduces travel time.

Each elevator can be programmed to access a floor according to the passengers’ request when they introduce their identification cards. The data outputs crisscross in real time, with the intelligence of the building indicating which elevator will take them to their destination floor.

The TKE touch screens located at the AGILE Destination Control terminals have been designed to interact with the user in a simple way and can be set in real time to customize the control panel. The visual experience of the passengers has also been customized through exclusively designed indicators to match B32’s architectural design. The finely decorated cabs are larger than usual, which improves passenger comfort.

The equipment also features the AGILE Management Center, which allows users to set the elevator operation remotely. The system backs up decisions based on dashboards and statistic indicators of the equipment usage, providing time and performance management that can be set by the system administrator.

As visitors come in and out of B32, information on vertical-transportation (VT) performance is sent to the cloud in real time through MAX, TKE’s solution for predictive maintenance. Based on AI and IoT (Internet of Things), MAX technology anticipates a range of elevator failure detection, such as out-of-service situations. In this way, elevator availability at B32 is guaranteed.

Special Thanks

Isabel Silvares e Cássia Cunha´s assisted, via Rouxinol Assessoria em Comunicação, Brazil.

Project: Pei Architects, U.S.; TKE

Note: Photos are from TKE blog or website posts, except where otherwise specified.