Kone, a global leader in the elevator and escalator industry, has initiated the first phase of elevator installation work at the Kingdom Tower construction site in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

The tower project, owned and being developed by Jeddah Economic Company (JEC), will be the world’s tallest building at more than one-kilometre high once completed in 2018.

Kone Areeco, the company’s joint venture in Saudi Arabia, has been involved in the planning and design of all vertical transportation systems for the tower over the past two years in conjunction with Kone’s global experts. The project team is currently working on pre-installation activities and is expected to begin work on fitting the elevator system’s guiderails towards the end of this year.

The installation of the guiderails, as well as the eventual installation of the Kone elevator cars, will then progress as the Kingdom Tower’s central structure rises over the coming years.

The UltraRope and machine.

Kone said its engineering and project management teams are preparing for the next phases of the project which will cover the manufacturing and delivery of Kone’s vertical transportation solutions.

For a building with such unprecedented height, Kone said it will deliver uniquely advanced technology – the world’s fastest and highest DoubleDeck elevators, supported by the revolutionary Kone UltraRope technology, as well as the latest People Flow Intelligence solutions.

“I am delighted we are now at the stage of taking the next leap with Kone in the construction of the Kingdom Tower,” said Mounib Hammoud, CEO of JEC. “With the use of Kone UltraRope, which is one-third of the weight of traditional ropes, we will be able to fit the DoubleDeck elevators with normal machines, a huge advantage that will enhance the sustainability of the Kingdom Tower by consuming much less power.”

Last year, Kone and JEC announced their partnership which will see Kone provide all elevators (57) and escalators (eight) inside the building.