For Elevator Makers, The Sky's The Limit

A new generation of megatowers pushes manufacturers to update lift technologies

- Oliver Sachgau

Two thousand years ago, the Romans used elevators—powered by pulleys, levers, and slaves—to raise gladiators and wild beasts into the Colosseum for death-match spectacles. Since then, elevator technology has been largely based on the same mechanics, with electricity-propelled cables, rather than teams of rope-hauling humans, providing the lift. These days, however, an engineering revolution is going on. Driven by a boom in megatowers the Romans could not have imagined, the global giants that dominate the industry are engaged in technological one-upmanship.

Real estate developers are on pace to build 187 towers soaring at least 250 meters (820 feet, or almost the length of three football fields) over the next two years. That’s triple the number of such megatowers built in the entire 20th century. It’s forcing companies such as Kone, Thyssenkrupp, and Otis Elevator to reach higher than ever in search of their next breakthrough.

Kone Oyj, which manages a global workforce of 55,000 from Espoo, Finland, says it’s “pushing the limits of elevator physics” at a 350-meter deep lab it recently reopened inside an active limestone mine west of Helsinki. The expanded facility holds 11 shafts where Kone conducts experiments involving everything from its patented superlight hoisting material to robotics, vibrational resonance, and free falls.