TWIN contracts for the Royal London Hospital

ThyssenKrupp Elevator has received a contract to install five TWINs and 37 conventional elevators in the Royal London Hospital. As part of the extensive redevelopment and expansion of the healthcare facility, TWIN elevators will be installed in a hospital for the first time. But that’s not all. Three of the TWIN installations, i.e. six elevator cabs, will be designed for the first time as bed elevators and will be used in the new buildings serving up to 20 floors.

The TWIN system, supplied exclusively by ThyssenKrupp Elevator, will be adapted to specific hospital requirements. Larger TWIN cabs with a payload capacity of 2,500 kilograms will be capable of transporting up to 33 people or a bed including all necessary medical equipment and personnel. Gentle starting, acceleration and deceleration as well as highly accurate levelling between cab floor and stop floor will provide maximum comfort for patients.

The unique TWIN technology, with two cabs traveling independently in one shaft, enabled the planners of the Royal London project to incorporate additional elevators without the need for new shafts. This was necessary because conventional elevators could not cope with the expected passenger volumes. The use of TWINs frees up valuable space for patient care, while allowing the hospital to transport large numbers of visitors and hospital workers around the building efficiently and without any negative impact on travel times or comfort. A destination selection control system will optimize elevator availability. With this system passengers select their destination on an LCD screen before entering the elevator. The system directs them to the most convenient cab for their journey.

The redevelopment of the Royal London Hospital is expected to be largely completed in early 2012. With its central location the hospital will ensure medical services during the London Olympics. When fully completed in 2015 the complex will consist of a total of 21 buildings.

ThyssenKrupp Elevator has already supplied installations to other hospitals in the UK, including University College London Hospital (UCLH), John Radcliffe in Oxford and Queen Alexander’s in Portsmouth. The exclusive TWIN elevator system is already in use in various countries: one TWIN each in Seoul (South Korea) in the TRUTEC building and in the headquarters of Korea Investment & Security. A total of 21 TWINs are currently being installed in the Moscow Federation Tower (Russia). The unique system is also being used in Spain and Germany: in the Oceanic Center in Valencia, in the BMW Group headquarters in Munich, at the University of Stuttgart, in the “Dreischeibenhaus” building in Düsseldorf and in the Main Triangel building in Frankfurt, which features the world’s first panoramic TWINs.