Making The Impossible Possible

China’s transformation over the past two decades has been nothing less than astounding. Over 60% of the 128 skyscrapers - measuring 200 meters or more in height - completed around the world, in 2016, were in China. Critical to the construction of these super-tall buildings have been innovative technologies without which, reaching these heights would be impossible. 

In the heart of the bustling Beijing business district, thousands of construction workers are working on the contours of a building inspired by a Zun, an ancient Chinese wine vessel. The China Zun tower, once completed, will stand 528-meters high comprising 108 floors. â€œMore than half the construction has been completed, and we are already the tallest building in Beijing,” exclaims Wang Wuren, Deputy Chairman and General Manager, Citic Heye Investment CO., LTD. “We started construction on the tower in 2013, and we will complete the tower in 2018. It is being constructed faster than other similar projects, which is very important from a profitability point of view.”

KONE’s JumpLiftâ„¢ technology has a big role to play here. The technology helps shorten construction schedules by several months, which means quicker return on investment. How? Well, it uses a temporary machine room inside the permanent hoist way. Its self-climbing feature ‘jumps’ upward as the construction work progresses, and also reduces the downtime of elevator installation to a minimum. This is because when the building is complete, the JumpLift can be swiftly transformed into a permanent elevator. The installation of the JumpLift has paid off big time for the developer, both in terms of costs and more importantly, time saved. â€œMy calculations show that we are saving about 320,000 work hours per year at China Zun, which is a big saving,” says Wuren.