KONE References 2017: Urban Journeys

s it a mall? A cinema hall? Maybe even a spa or health care center? These are the questions that are sure to come to mind when you see a modern airport for the first time. “Airports are the first and the last impression of any country,” declares Bjørn Olav Susæg , architect of the Oslo International Airport – one of the busiest airports in Europe, which has seen passenger traffic grow steadily over the years. Almost 26 million passengers travelled through the airport in 2016, and an ongoing expansion will see capacities increase to handle 28 million passengers in phase 1 and a whopping 35 million in phase 2. This massive expansion is only natural considering the pace at which the aviation industry is growing. The prevalence of low-cost carriers has seen an increasing number of people take to the skies, and today’s traveler often ends up spending more time at the airport than in the aircraft itself. In such a scenario, it is crucial to keep passengers comfortable, occupied and secure, all factors that are major considerations in the Oslo airport’s expansion. THE EXPANSION WAS BY NO MEANS an easy task, and called for collaboration from all stakeholders invested in the project. One of the main tasks was to figure out ways to help people travel safely and comfortably, right from the time they entered the airport to the time they took off and vice versa. A particularly challenging task, considering that the Oslo airport is one of the most ambitious transport hubs in Europe. But the KONE team, which was actively involved in the project right from the start, was up for the challenge. A crack team with experts from different departments across geographies was quickly put together to come up with radical ideas for the airport’s modernization. In any airport, efficiency of operations and security are right at the top of the list of priorities and the Oslo airport was no exception. “With regards to infrastructure, the Oslo airport project had the strictest requirements regarding environment and space efficiency,” recalls Tor Engen , project manager at KONE Norway. For instance, all elevators including the large goods elevators in the airport had to be built without machine rooms. This was a valuable space-saving measure, one which KONE handled easily thanks to its range of KONE TranSys™ and KONE MonoSpace™ elevators, designed to function without dedicated machine rooms. This was in sync with the architect’s vision, which was to have clarity, comfort and open flexible spaces. “Just like a city masterplan, we work a lot with dimensional criteria and try to keep distances to a minimum,” reveals Susæg, adding that compact buildings are more sustainable and easier to navigate. The idea was to build small but enough – a trait that is generously displayed at the Oslo airport that is almost half the size of other airports yet handles the same volume of traffic. “Bigger isn’t always better,” he quips matter-of-factly, adding that passengers should be made to feel safe and not isolated in a huge space. AND TO AID THIS VISION CAME A WIDE variety of People Flow solutions from KONE that include elevators, escalators, an autowalk and more, all strategically placed and easy to use. I Oslo airport – Norway 40