Elevating high-rise solutions in the tallest residential tower in the southern hemisphere

With over 100 habitable levels housing 1,105 luxury apartments, the Australia 108 Tower goes where no development has gone before. Over the course of the 5 year build, the sheer scale and size of the project presented various challenges in the construction process to which KONE was able to cater to. Using the revolutionary KONE JumpLift innovation and temporary lift machine rooms, residents were able to move in and make use of the building's facilities - including the exclusive gym, pool, spa and cinema - while construction continued above. The lifts throughout the building were also fitted with KONE Ultra Rope technology, enhancing the ride quality, longevity and eco-efficiency of the tower overall.

To fast-track the construction process of Australia 108 and improve the safety and efficiency of the build, KONE introduced the JumpLift to meet all of these concerns. Throughout the project, Australia 108 had 2 JumpLifts operating full time for over 3 years to transport workers and materials up the building internally as it was progressively being built.

The JumpLift offered a construction strategy which allowed the lift to continue to service the lower levels at every stage the core would jump another level up. This enabled residents to move in and use the shared facilities from mid-2018 - about 1.5 years before the building reached final completion.

Darcy Holden, Project Manager at Multiplex says, “With a building this size with a lot of weather delays and impacts to external lifts, the JumpLift enabled us to move construction workers and material up and down the building internally, which traditionally would only be seen externally, so it was a great benefit to be able to stage and strategize that accordingly”.

The 2 x KONE JumpLifts were installed internally in the lift shaft, allowing for all wealth operation. As such, the building was able to be completed faster with increased load capacity, saving time as well as overall costs.

The Australia 108 Tower is one of the first buildings in Australia to implement KONE’s leading Ultra Rope technology. This super-light high rise solution provides the tower with unrivalled eco-efficiency, reliability and durability, offering a completely new take on elevator hoisting.

The Ultra Rope is a thin carbon fibre rope, surrounded by a unique high-friction coating. Given the height and scale of the Australia 108 Tower, one of the biggest challenges of the project was wind and weather complications. Ultra Rope technology installed in the tower is less sensitive to building sway, enabling reductions in elevator downtime during Melbourne’s strong winds and storms.

“From my point of view, the Ultra Rope was something that was a lot easier to install on site as opposed to the traditional heavy steel ropes which was a key benefit during the construction process on this project. The ride quality in the car is also significantly improved with the Ultra Rope,” says Darcy Holden, Project Manager at Multiplex.

Weighing about a fifth of the traditional steel rope, the Ultra Rope enables a huge weight reduction which contributes to approximately a 15% energy saving in the building, as well as reducing operating costs. Installing the Ultra Rope also eliminates the possibility of the ropes rusting, stretching or wearing, ultimately prolonging the lifetime of the rope - and the building.

The KONE team was able to work with Multiplex to develop a construction strategy that not only catered to the unique challenges of building Australia’s tallest residential building, but also future-proofed the Australia 108 tower by enhancing the durability and eco-efficiency of the building with KONE’s unrivalled vertical transport innovations.

Holden continues, “We had a great working relationship with the team at KONE, and ultimately that was what was able to make the project a success.”