German premiere for new lift technologies

The ONE should alter Frankfurts skyline and expedite the development of construction technology through the use of new lift technologies.

Ten lifts with great conveyance heights will be moved through the building by carbon fibre belts – a German premiere. The investor and developer CA Immo commissioned Kone to plan and implement the pedestrian flow technology of the office and hotel tower, which is 190 m high and has 49 floors.

It will be built at the interface of Frankfurt’s banking district and fairgrounds. The order includes 21 lifts, twelve fitted with destination control, an access control system with scanners and software for selection of the lifts.

"Order is a milestone"

Ten lifts with great conveyance heights will be moved by carbon fibre belts – a German premiere. In addition, during the erection and fitting of the skyscraper, a Kone high performance construction lift will be used – likewise a German premiere.

The lifts will probably be installed from October 2019. They will reach maximum conveyance heights of 189 m and travel at speeds up to 7 m/s (25.2 km/h). By comparison: standard lifts in residential blocks move at 1 m/s (3.6 km/h).

"The order is a milestone in our long cooperation with CA Immo," noted Erik Kahlert, chairman of the Kone Germany board of directors, with regard to projects like the Frankfurt Tower 185 (2009), the Skyline Plaza shopping centre (2013) and cube berlin (planned 2019), close to Berlin central railway station.

UltraRope drive belts for high-rise lifts

For the first time in Germany, belts will be used instead of steel ropes to move the lifts in ONE. The Kone UltraRopes are belts with a carbon fibre core and special plastic sheathing. They were first deployed in 2013 in the Hotel Marina Bay Sands in Singapore.

Compared to steel ropes, UltraRopes are about 80 percent lighter and far more resilient. This permits doubling the service life and a maximum conveyance height of 1000 m. On top of this, energy requirements are slashed by 20 percent. "Since the drive belts need replacement far less often than steel ropes, downtimes are reduced," explained Kone project manager Thomas Link.

Kone JumpLift for faster construction

The Kone JumpLift will also be having its German premiere: a high-performance construction lift that has already been deployed in numerous skyscraper projects worldwide. The JumpLift is not set up like a conventional construction lift outside the building. Rather, it uses a lift shaft that is under construction to grow in height in tandem with the building.

"We install the guide rails and car in the shaft, which is connected with the drive via a steel rope. This in turn is connected to a platform at the top in the shaft," revealed project manager Thomas Link, "As soon as the lift has grown three floors, we pull up the platform with the drive and control and extend the guide rails upwards – the lift jumps."

Quick installation

Advantages: construction lifts attached to the façade are only needed for the lowest floors and can be quickly removed. This facilitates closing the facades and finishing the floors earlier.

Moreover, the "right" lift can be installed relatively quickly later. This is because once the building has reached its final height, the entire lift has been completely installed to just under five stops below the shaft ceiling. The drive and control only have to be relocated and the provisional machine room dismantled. After this, the rest of the installation is completed up to the shaft head.

More on the function of the JumpLift in the video from Kone. 

www.kone.de