Uplifting Design
Possibly the the largest passenger elevators in the world can be found right here in Umeda at the center of Osaka. The building in question is the Umeda Hankyu Building Office Tower (梅田阪急ビル オフィスタワー).
Thousands of people walk by the building and its lobby every day. Most of them pass by during their commute without even peeking into the lobby and are therefore unaware of what the building has to offer. The most interesting aspect are perhaps the elevators
The capacity of a single elevator is 80 people! There are a total of five elevators with the total capacity of 400 people. The size of each car is 3.4m x 2.8m. The inside is 2.6m tall and have a floor area of 9.52 square meters.
Proof: Passenger elevator, capacity 80 people and 5250kg.
The sleek interior consists of glass and stainless steel. These elevators only go up to the 15th floor. To access the floors 16 to 41 one must use another set of elevators.
The 15th floor is open to the public and boasts a fresh interior completed with beautiful wooden public seating designed by architect Shoko Fukuya.
The tower which was opened in May 2010 is built on top of the old iconic Hankyu department store. The elevators were custom made by Mitsubishi Electric. At the moment of the opening these were the largest passenger elevators in Japan and probably in the whole world.
Gizmag’s Rick Martin also wrote about the elevators. (article)
Mitsubishi Electric press release (PDF)
