Up on the Roof

Otis Turkey R&D engineers have developed a helicopter-level elevator that provides safe access to rooftop landing pads. The elevator, designed at the Otis plant in Istanbul, can be applied to office towers, hotels, residential buildings and hospitals — anywhere access to a rooftop helicopter facility is needed. Its use at several important projects in Turkey demonstrate the company’s design, which is unique to the Turkish market. The helicopter access elevator is especially useful in hospitals, where it has been installed in Turkey at the Bodrum Acibadem Hospital, Gaziantep American Hospital, İstanbul Emsey Hospital and Nişantaşı American Hospital. In Mecca, Saudi Arabia, Otis Turkey is also providing them for the Abraj Kudai hotel, a massive structure that will include 10,000 guest rooms and five helicopter landing pads.

To give helicopters the maximum amount of safe landing space, the Otis helicopter-level elevator’s shaft does not extend above the landing pad’s surface. Instead, the top of the elevator is covered by a cap that sits at roof level until the car rises. At that point, the entire assembly rises at a maximum speed of 1 mps until the floor of the car is at roof level. This allows passengers to safely enter the car. In hospital uses, the car is designed to accommodate stretchers and personnel, and has a minimum capacity of 1275 kg. 

The helicopter-access elevator was first used at a hospital in Turkey in 1998. The unit had a capacity of 2000 kg and speed of 0.63 mps, and covered a travel distance of 8 m. The application was adopted for use at other hospitals in Turkey, each with a specific capacity and speed.

An experienced Otis design team works closely with project architects and engineers for each installation. This cooperation starts on the first day, when specifications for shaft insulation and sufficient shaft bottom space are formulated.

Otis Turkey Managing Director Özgür Aren said Otis is a preferred manufacturer of helicopter-level access elevators in the country because of the capabilities of its designs. He said Otis is experienced in creating elevators for unique situations, continuing:

“As a global company manufacturing in Turkey, we put our signature on custom designs while taking advantage of our close contact with customers. We have built leaning-tower elevators like those in the Eiffel Tower; we have designed full-glass cars for the U.A.E.’s Abu Dhabi International Airport project; we have even manufactured gold-plated elevators as a special design for another project in the Middle East. With the innovative units installed by our experienced staff of engineers, we fulfill the requirements for elevators, escalators and moving walks for a wide range of construction projects, from apartments to skyscrapers, shopping malls to underground stations, [and] hospitals and hotels to public buildings. We work on prestigious projects in Turkey and in other geographies, designing and developing products that complement the creativity of architects.”