Elevator Technologies of tomorrow

Taking the stairs is rare these days unless and until you're someone who loses sleep over calories. You come home after a long day, jam your fingers on the elevator button twice or thrice or up to the point where someone asks how bad your day went and get inside for a few awkward seconds standing beside strangers who are equally eager to get off from this temporary confinement. We don't really care about something as trivial as "how good the elevator functioned". Call it our habit of shutting out certain matters we deem as insignificant or simply being ignorant- ironically, there's an entire industry that cares a lot about how smoothly you get from the ground floor to your apartment or to that kickass hotel suite.

Machine Room-Less elevators or MRLs are not a new concept. But they are uncommon in our country when you consider the extent of authenticity that most manufacturers claim to have. Not everyone has it, not everyone does it right. And as an architect, it's a hassle to think about lift machine rooms. It's space you could use for other purposes and a very power-hungry way to provide a service that is used by the mass all day.

Manufacturers like KONE, though, have changed the industry through innovations that are designed to make our lives easier. Instead of a heat-packed room that serves as a control base for the elevator and draws in a lot of electricity, why not have a single compact motor that does the job better, smoother and quicker while taking up minimal space and being energy-efficient? KONE's EcoDisk motor saves up to 3.5 lacs for you in an entire year with the energy savings percentile going over 50. Pair that up with what they call the UltraRope, you've got a perfect elevator solution for mid to high-rise buildings.

And KONE's impressive clientele backs up their reputation for being one of the best at what they do. From leading landmarks such as the Olympic Stadium in Beijing or the Princess Tower in Dubai to luxurious hotels like the Marina Bay Sands in Singapore, they've brilliantly designed the entire experience of moving from concrete bottom to sky high.

How much we don't know about the things we use every day is amusing. It's alright, though. We care about getting from point A to point B and what happens when we do and then there are those who work to make that journey, no matter how insignificant, significantly better. It's a fairly well-balanced system.