Double-deck elevator

Double-deck elevators at Midland Square, Nagoya, Japan

Double-deck elevators at the C.D. Howe Building in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada

Double-deck elevators are designed with two elevator cars that are attached, one on top of the other. This allows passengers on two consecutive floors to be able to use the elevator simultaneously, significantly increasing the passenger capacity of an elevator shaft. Such a scheme can prove efficient in buildings where the volume of traffic would normally have a single elevator stopping at every floor. An example, a passenger may board one elevator (which serves only odd-numbered floors) on the third floor while another passenger may board another elevator (which serves even-numbered floors) on the fourth floor. The elevator serving even floors is actually on top of the elevator serving odd floors in the same lift shaft. When a passenger disembarks from the even-floor-serving elevator at level 30, for instance, the passengers in the odd-floor-serving elevator beneath it are kept waiting until the elevator doors above close.

Architecturally, this is important, as double-deck elevators occupy less building core space than traditional single-deck elevators do for the same level of traffic. In skyscrapers, this allows for much more efficient use of space, as the floor area required by elevators tends to be quite significant. (The other main technique is shared-shaft elevators, where multiple elevators use different sections of the same shaft to serve different floors, with skylobbies separating the sections.)

Double-deck goods/passenger elevators

Not all double-deck elevators are used to transport passengers simultaneously in both decks. Sometimes one or more elevators in a building has a double-deck car, where the second deck is used for transportation of goods, typically outside of peak traffic periods. This technique has the advantages of preventing damage to interior fixtures due to impact from trolleys, and does not require a dedicated shaft solely devoted to a goods-only elevator car. During peak periods, the car is switched back to passenger mode, where it can expedite passenger movement into or out of the building.

As of 2011, no triple-deck elevators have been built, although such a design had been considered for the 163-floor Burj Khalifa before the final design was scaled back to double-deck.^[1] Also, Frank Lloyd Wright had envisioned five-deck elevators in his 1956 proposed Mile High Illinois.

List of structures with double-deck passenger elevators

Asia

• 8 Shenton Way in Singapore
• Beijing Yintai Centre
• Capital Tower in Singapore
• DBS Building Tower 2 in Singapore
• Two International Finance Centre in Hong Kong
• Menara Telekom in Kuala Lumpur
• Midland Square in Nagoya (pictured above)
• Petronas Twin Towers in Kuala Lumpur
• Raffles City Shanghai
• Republic Plaza in Singapore
• Roppongi Hills Mori Tower in Tokyo
• Sun Hung Kai Centre in Hong Kong
• Taipei 101
• The Concourse in Singapore
• World Trade Centre in Hong Kong
• One San Miguel Avenue in Pasig City, Philippines
• Shanghai World Financial Center
• One Island East in Hong Kong
• International Commerce Centre in Hong Kong

Australia

• 201 Elizabeth St (formerly the Pacific Power building) in Sydney
• Grosvenor Place in Sydney
• Sydney Tower in Sydney
• Twin Towers complex in Chatswood, Australia

North America

• 388 Greenwich Street in New York
• American International Building in New York (subsequently removed)
• Aon Center in Chicago
• Bank of America building in Dallas
• Bentall Centre Complex in Vancouver
• C. D. Howe Building / 240 Sparks Street in Ottawa (pictured above)
• Citigroup Center in New York
• First Canadian Place in Toronto
• John Hancock Tower in Boston
• One Bell Center in St. Louis
• One Nationwide Plaza in Columbus
• Republic Plaza in Denver
• Scotia Plaza in Toronto
• Willis Tower in Chicago
• Statue of Liberty in New York (goes no higher than the pedestal)
• Stratosphere Tower in Las Vegas
• Time-Life Building, Chicago, Illinois

South America

• University of Belgrano in Buenos Aires

Europe

• Broadgate Tower in London
• Heron Tower in London
• Eiffel Tower in Paris
• Torre Picasso in Madrid
• Tower 42 in London.

Middle East

• Burj Khalifa in Dubai

Africa

• Middelbult Mine - South Africa has not only a double-deck elevator but also 5 openings. The freight unit is to be moved soon

References

1. ^ "Burj Dubai, Dubai, at Emporis.com". Emporis. http://www.emporis.com/en/wm/bu/?id=burjdubai-dubai-unitedarabemirates. Retrieved 1 March 2007. 

Links

• servingotherdeck.com - A write-up on New York's 388 Greenwich Street's double-decker elevators