Updates from Vancouver, Toronto

KONE Providing VT System for “Living Sculpture” in Vancouver

KONE has been selected to provide the vertical-transportation (VT) system for a 25-story o–ce tower at 400 West Georgia Street in downtown Vancouver. Described as a “living sculpture,” the building was designed by OSO of Tokyo and resembles stacked boxes. Aiming for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design Platinum certification, it incorporates features such as a triple- paned curtain wall, glass floors, column-free space and extensive landscaping. Installation of the VT system is scheduled to start this summer, and consists of eight high-speed MiniSpaceTM, four MonoSpace® 700 and one MonoSpace 500 elevators, as well as a destination-control system. The developer is Westbank Project Corp. of Vancouver, and the general contractor is EllisDon Construction.

Condo Tower Rising Quickly in Red-Hot Toronto Area

Tower at Pier 27, containing 336 condominiums at Queens Quay East just north of the Waterlink at Pier 27 buildings at the foot of Yonge Street in Toronto, is rising quickly toward its ultimate 115-m, 35-story height, Urban Toronto reported in February. With a unique appearance that resembles an irregularly stacked deck of cards, the structure was designed by architectsAlliance and is being developed by Cityzen Development Group and Fernbrook Homes. Tower at Pier 27 is part of an area the source described as rapidly intensifying, and residents will be able to access a new community center being built as part of the nearby Pinnacle One Yonge development (ELEVATOR WORLD, January 2018).

High-Capacity, High-Speed Elevators for Deep Montreal Station

An elevator system that can carry approximately 5,000 passengers per hour in groups down the equivalent of 20 stories in about 20 s. is part of the Édouard-Montpetit Reseau express metropolitan (REM) station in Montreal, which will be the second-deepest station in North America (after one in Portland, Oregon) upon completion, CBC reported. Excavation for the station, one of 26 along a new multibillion-dollar, 67-km-long REM line, involves blasting and removal of 30,000 m3 of bedrock. As of March, two crews of 30 working from early in the morning until late at night had excavated down about six stories, ahead of anticipated completion in 2020. At that point, work on the station, elevators and escalators can begin.

Sixteen Elevators to Serve Sustainable Bangkok Tower

Sixteen elevators will serve tenants of the 29-story O-NES o–ce tower in Bangkok, for which a foundation stone was laid in March, the Bangkok Post reported. Developed by Thai Obayashi Corp. Ltd., the tower is in a busy area close to the Nana Bangkok Mass Transit Station and boasts an “urban forest” design. Walls and steel framing will allow for 20-m, column-free spans for the 2,000 m2 of space on each floor that will be occupied by o–ces, for a total of 46,000 m2. Shops and restaurants will occupy 1,200 m2 of the total project. A V-column steel façade, uncommon in Thailand, will increase transparency of the north and south sides of the building, according to the developer.