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13 PEOPLE FLOW |
50%
THE KONE DESTINATION CONTROL
SYSTEM HAS IMPROVED ELEVATOR
PERFORMANCE SIGNIFICANTLY AND
INCREASED ELEVATOR HANDLING
CAPACITY BY NEARLY 50 PERCENT.
KONE SOLUTIONS
18 KONE MiniSpace™ passenger elevators
2 KONE MiniSpace™ freight elevators
1 KONE MonoSpace® elevator
3 KONE MonoSpace® freight elevators
4 KONE MonoSpace® parking elevators
2 KONE TravelMaster™ 110 escalators
KONE Polaris® destination control system
TOUR FIRST
Modernization completed: 2011
Height: 231 m
Floors: 52
Total floor area: 80,000 m2
Architect: Kohn Pedersen Fox and SRA
Building owner: Beacon Capital Partners
Developer: Altarea Cogedim
Contractor: Bouygues Bâtiment Ile de France
Tour First is France’s
tallest skyscraper,
peaking above La
Défense business
district in north-
western Paris. The office
tower was built in 1974 and
after three decades needed
transformation to meet the
digital-era demands of its
occupants and ensure eco-
efficiency. It took four years to
strip the tower to its core and
construct an expanded, taller
design.
KONE took on a particular
challenge in the project: the
number of elevators, shaft
sizes and car dimensions had
to stay the same, but they
had to be able to carry many
more passengers. The building,
inaugurated in 2011, is now
a workplace for up to 5,700
people, compared to 3,500
previously.
KONE’s destination control
system ensures smooth
passenger flows, even during
the lunchtime peak. Tenants
and visitors choose their
destination floors using keypads
stationed en route to the
elevator halls. This reduces
waiting times and guides
passengers to the right cars; it
also cuts out struggling to press
a button in a crowded elevator.
The smart KONE destination
system combines maximum
efficiency and capacity use
by ensuring passengers share
their journeys only with
people heading for a limited
range of floors – a major task
in a 231-meter tower with
52 floors. Fewer intermediate
stops make for quicker trips and
cut energy use. To help reduce
power consumption KONE also
installed systems to capture
energy otherwise lost during
elevator braking, and standby
modes that switch off the lights
in idle cars.
Smart solutions like KONE’s
destination control help Tour
First meet the demands of its
tenants and visitors, with more
efficient elevator journeys,
happier passengers, and
smoother people flow.
TEXT REX MERRIFIELD PHOTO ANTOINE DOYEN