Novel 'self-climbing' elevator operates during construction of high-rise buildings

Elevator and escalator manufacturer KONE Inc. announced the first North American installation of the company's JumpLift technology. The system is being implemented on the One Bloor project, Great Gulf’s flagship high-rise condominium under construction in Toronto.

KONE JumpLift, which has already been installed in Europe, Asia, the Middle East, China, and Australia, is an advanced, self-climbing elevator that operates during construction in a building’s permanent hoistway. JumpLift uses a mobile machine room that moves upward as the construction progresses.

The technology can improve safety and efficiency on job sites and can enable buildings to be completed months ahead of traditional construction timelines.

Great Gulf and KONE are collaborating on the project, which will deliver high-end retail and residential units in Toronto’s Bloor-Yorkville area, and is expected to be completed in 2016.

The KONE JumpLift technology includes the following benefits:

• Less wait time: Operating at speeds up to 800 fpm (4m/s), five times faster than a traditional external hoist used in construction, KONE JumpLift is able to move construction workers to their floors in a faster, safer way.

• Safer transportation: With all transportation activities taking place inside in a dry and windproof shaft, construction workers can safely move throughout the building regardless of weather conditions, allowing building construction to proceed unhindered.

• Construction efficiency: Using the building’s permanent elevator hoistway for construction use, completed floors can be put into action while allowing the installation to continue above.

• Faster delivery: When the building structure is completed, changing over to the permanent elevator is a straightforward matter of installing the final machinery and finishing the material surfaces of the elevator car, landing doors and signalization.

“Great Gulf always looks for innovation in design and construction. One Bloor, recently recognized by the International Property Awards as the best hi-rise condominium in North America, is one of the most significant buildings being built in Toronto,” said Christopher Wein, President Great Gulf Residential. “The KONE JumpLift provides real value and this elevator technology will help the entire construction project to proceed more efficiently and safely for everyone working on site.”

Architectural concrete as we know it today was invented in the 19th century. It reached new heights in the U.S. after World War II when mid-century modernism was in vogue, following in the footsteps of a European aesthetic that expressed structure and permanent surfaces through this exposed material. Concrete was treated as a monolithic miracle, waterproof and structurally and visually versatile.

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