After six years of
construction, the 555-meter-tall (1,820 ft) Lotte World Tower opened in April,
setting three world records and redefining the Seoul skyline.
Not only is it the tallest
tower in South Korea and fifth highest in the world -- dwarfing the Korean
capital's next highest building, Three IFC Office Tower, by nearly 300 meters
-- it's also home to the highest glass-bottom observatory at 478 meters (1,568
ft).
But its most impressive feat?
The Lotte World Tower
features the world's tallest and fastest double-decker elevator, the Sky Shuttle,
which whisks passengers from the basement to the 121st-floor observation deck
in one minute, or at 10 meters per second.
From the top of the half
kilometer-tall tower, visitors can survey the edges of Seoul's vast urban
sprawl and the mountainous terrain beyond -- only a handful of other
skyscrapers in sight.
Lotte hired American elevator
manufacturer the Otis Elevator Company to bring its double-deck Sky Shuttle to
life.
Consisting
of two attached cabins stacked on top of each other, it simultaneously carries
passengers to separate floors. Other famous structures featuring this type of
technology include the Canton Tower, in Guangzhou; the Petronas Towers, in
Kuala Lumpur; the Eiffel Tower, in Paris; and the Burj Khalifa, in Dubai.
Boasting
twice the capacity of a conventional elevator -- each cabin holds 52 passengers
-- the tower's lift directly connects the basement and the observation deck,
skipping the floors in between which are full of shopping complexes, offices,
and even a "seven star" hotel.
"A
double-deck elevator was used because the observatory would be crowded at
certain times of day," Wonixuk Choi, manager of Lotte Corporation, tells CNN.
Inside
the lift cabins, it feels like a video game -- 15 OLED displays offer a virtual
tour of Seoul during the 60-second ride.
Source: http://edition.cnn.com
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