The Kings of Cool: Crowning 7 Award-Winning Lifts

There have been huge advances in lift technology since the first elevator was built in 1743. This is made all the more obvious when you think about some of the record-breaking lifts around the world today.

Highest and Fastest

The Burj Khalifa, known simply as the Burj Dubai, holds at least five world records, not least for the fastest elevator and highest elevator rise on the planet. The elevator rises an incredible 504 metres at a speed of 64km/h, meaning that it takes only around half a minute to reach the top. The Burj is the world’s highest man-made structure, is the building boasting the most floors at 163 and is home to the globe’s highest nightclub on floor 144 − just some of the reasons why this building in Downtown Dubai needs a record-breaking lift.
Big Is Beautiful

The title for the world’s biggest lift goes to the Umeda Hankyu Building elevators in Osaka, Japan. It boasts not one but five of the monster machines to serve the office tower. Each of the lifts, installed by the Mitsubishi Electric company, measures 105m2, which is bigger than some studio flats. They can lift a top load totalling five tons and hold an incredible 80 passengers. The building itself is home to 25 Mitsubishi lifts.

Underground Accolade

South Africa’s Mponeng Gold Mine elevator is the world’s deepest, travelling an ear-popping 3,037 metres underground. It is used to carry 4,000 workers in and out of the mine each day, and each car boasts three storeys carrying 120 people each. The mine is the planet’s deepest and descends to more than two miles underneath the surface.
World’s Busiest Lifts

The planet’s busiest elevators are at Los Angeles International Airport, which copes with 60 million travellers every year and hosts 30 different airlines. The airport itself is the busiest in the world as an origin and destination and has 40 energy-efficient elevators to cope with the huge number of passengers coming through the doors every day.

Outdoor Elevator

The tallest outdoor lift is the £12 million Bailong Elevator in China, which translates as the Hundred Dragons Elevator. The huge glass structure hangs on a cliff-side in Wulingyuan in Zhangjiajie, allowing passengers to soar 1,070ft in just a minute to enjoy a spectacular view at the top. It is also said to be the world’s heaviest outdoor lift.
The Coolest Lift

Imagine a lift with a fully stocked bar and 35 seats. This is what you will find at the Rising Tide Bar on the ‘Miss Oasis of the Seas’ luxury cruise liner. The ship is so huge that it takes the lift car eight minutes to get to the top deck − plenty of time to sit down and enjoy a drink.
Moving Aquarium

The world’s most biologically diverse lift is known as the Aquadom elevator and is housed in Berlin’s Radisson Blu hotel. The 25-metre-tall lift houses a one-million-litre aquarium which is home to around 1,500 fish of 50 different species. The lift was structured into the hotel’s foundations and cost 12.8 million euros to build.