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| PEOPLE FLOW
Diving Deep to
rise high
Sometimes you need to dive deep
to reach the sky. This is exactly what
KONE did to become one of the
leading elevator suppliers to the world’s
skyscrapers. But the story of the world’s
tallest elevator test tower – a shaft
dug 350 meters into a damp and dark
limestone mine – is only part of KONE’s
quickly evolving high-rise story.
text
Laura ViNha
photos
KONE
N
o one could have guessed that a small
machine shop founded some 100 years ago
in the capital of Finland, a remote country
with no real skyscrapers of its own, would
one day become a leading elevator supplier
to some of the world’s tallest and most im-
pressive landmarks. Yet this is exactly what KONE has done.
KONE’s solutions enable the smooth flow of people at
sites as diverse as the Marina Bay Sands integrated resort in
Singapore; The Shard in London, Europe’s tallest building at
306 meters; and the iconic Trump international hotel and
Tower in Chicago, at 423 meters the tallest building built in
2009. With cities growing taller and buildings soaring to new
heights, KONE’s high-rise story has only just begun.