“Rock”-ing it in Egypt

Entire new cities are rising in northeast Africa, and TK Elevator is among VT companies seizing the opportunity.

It may soon have another, official name, but what was known at press time as the New Administrative Capital (NAC) approximately 45 km east of Cairo, Egypt, has been a hive of activity since starting construction in 2015. Skyscrapers are nearing completion and steadily rising in the NAC, a new, from-scratch city spanning 700 km² that eventually expects to be home to up to 7 million people. Somewhere down the line, the NAC aims to boast the world’s tallest building.

The population of metro Cairo is close to 20 million, and the government’s official reason for building the NAC is to relieve congestion there. Since 2016, NAC construction has been financed and managed by the Egyptian government under Egyptian joint stock company the Administrative Capital Urban Development Co., whose major shareholders include Egypt’s Ministry of Defence and the Ministry of Housing’s New Urban Communities Authority.^[1]

As the number of projects and amount of private investment intensify, vertical-transportation (VT) companies including TK Elevator Egypt are finding themselves very busy. From TK Elevator Egypt’s Cairo headquarters, TK Elevator Egypt Head of New Installations Mohamed Haidara says: 

“Together with the New Alamein city in the northwest, expansion of real estate in Egypt is being led by the government and built up by the presidency of the country to ensure completion of these milestone projects. Expansion will continue rapidly over the next two to three years and, along with the government projects — the ministries, the headquarters — private sector investments are taking place.” 

Administrative offices are continuing to relocate from Cairo proper to the NAC. As of May, 14 ministries and government entities had relocated,^[1] and private investments continue to proliferate. El Batal Real Estate Development Co. is among those making private investments. In August, El Batal CEO and Managing Director Eng. Emad Doss announced his company had awarded two VT contracts to TK Elevator Egypt^[3] —one for a mixed-usedevelopment and the other for a mall. TKE VT will serve Rock Capital 1, a 100,000-m², mid-rise mixed-use development boasting a direct view of the presidential palace and the presidential garden and near important NAC landmarks and the airport,^[4] and Rock Gold Mall, “the first mall for gold and beauty in Egypt,” in Fifth Settlement, approximately 30-40 km from the NAC. Of the mall, Community observed: 

About TK Elevator Egypt Head of New Installations Mohamed Haidara

Haidara graduated in 2008 from the Faculty of Engineering at Ain Shams University in Cairo. He holds an MBA in marketing and has worked in the elevator industry since January 2009. Haidara has held multiple managerial positions at TKE, and has headed New Installations (Sales and Operations) since December 2021.

About TK Elevator Egypt New Installations Sales Engineer Ahmad Elnaggar 

Elnaggar graduated in 2016 from the Faculty of Engineering at New Cairo Academy in New Cairo. Joining TKE in February 2022, he has worked in the elevator industry since January 2021. 

“It is the first mall of its kind to meet all the needs of women, to bring together the finest famous brands of gold in addition to beauty centers and clinics, a fashion house, cafés, various restaurants and a children’s area to provide a distinctive shopping experience for mothers, as well as a gym, banks and shops selling sweets, accessories, flowers, perfumes and glasses.” 

Rock Gold had been scheduled for completion by the end of 2024, and Rock Capital 1, by the end of 2025. For Rock Gold, TK Elevator Egypt provided: 

Five, 1000-kg capacity meta100 elevators traveling at 1 m/s making seven stops

One, 1350-kg capacity meta200 elevator traveling at 1 m/s making seven stops

Two, 4.3-m rise velino escalators

TKE describes meta100 as a solution that reduces construction cost and is faster to install for mid-rise buildings, and the meta200 as a mid-rise unit for both residential and commercial properties where “design and performance matter.” The velino escalator covers all commercial needs from standard and design-oriented applications to tailored projects. “Each velino makes sound business sense, offers valuable sustainability features and is safety-focused with over 50 smart safety-enhancing features,” TKE observes. 

For Rock Capital 1, TK Elevator Egypt provided:

15, 1000-kg capacity meta100 elevators traveling at 1.6 m/s making 10 stops

Three, 1000-kg capacity meta 100 elevators traveling at 1/6 m/s making 11 stops

Additional features of the Rock Capital 1 units include fire-rated doors on all elevators, fire emergency return, earthquake function (seismic interface), building automation interface through dry contacts, automatic evacuation in case of power failure and emergency operation via building generator.

The Rock Capital 1 VT system also includes two firefighter elevators. Promotional materials for Rock Capital 1 emphasize its accessibility, and TKE elevators designed for this development include doors that open to 90 cm so a wheelchair may easily enter and exit, a voice-announcement system and braille writing for the buttons. 

Because TKE’s Internet-of-Things, remote monitoring system MAX had not yet launched in Egypt, VT systems are not connected to it, but rather, to the client’s respective Building Management System, or BMS.

In announcing the latest contracts El Batal had awarded to TK Elevator Egypt, El Batal’s Doss pointed to the company’s strong track record in providing high-quality, sustainable products and advanced digital solutions. With projects including the Cairo, Sharm El Sheikh and Hurghada international airports; the National Bank of Egypt headquarters; the National Museum of Civilization; the Children’s Cancer Hospital (commonly known as 57357 for the telephone number used to collect donations for the project’s construction many years ago) and several high-end hotels, TKE has set “a distinguished business precedent for the benefit of different sectors,” Doss observed.^[2]

TK Elevator Egypt New Installation Sales Manager Ahmad Elnaggar tells EW the company also installed VT equipment at Commercial International Bank headquarters and Arab African International bank headquarters at the NAC, and at the NAC’s African Embassy District, where the OEM is installing approximately 50 units. It also will install and maintain seven elevators and three escalators at the new Eleven Mall in the NAC. 

As Egypt continues to build new cities (14 expected to house at least 14 million people according to a recent estimate [EW, May 2022]), work does not look to slow down anytime soon for companies like TKE. Haidara observes TK Elevator Egypt is already working on a significant backlog of projects that will be completed as others are secured. He says:

“With the number of projects being built in Egypt, as an elevator company, we need boots on the ground, not only for new construction but for maintenance and modernization. There is also lots of room for modernization in Egypt, because all the old buildings in Cairo will be reused for commercial and other purposes. We see huge growth in modernization in the future.” 

References

[1] wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Administrative_Capital

[2] Community, “El Batal Development Contracts With Thyssenkrupp for Rock Capital 1 and Gold Rock Mall,” August  8, 2023. 

[3] ZAWYA BY REFINITIV, “El Batal Developments Finishes Concrete Works of the Largest Administrative Building,” press release, January 29, 2023.