Lifts in large office buildings are required to have slightly varying features at different times of the working day. At peak times, such as the morning rush hour, lunch times and the end of the working day, a lift system has to carry people from one place to another as efficiently as possible. At these times the primary criterion is to control the performance capacity of a bank of lifts. At quieter times, more consideration can be given to arrival times of lifts at the destination floor and other matters of importance to passengers.

Together with KONE, the Etteplan Design Center implemented the design for a new-era office lift system for the 38-storey Gallileo building (Dresdner Bank Tower) in Frankfurt. The building was commissioned in summer 2003.

Lift users in the Gallileo building give their destination floors to a passenger terminal in the lobby before stepping into the lift. Upon receiving calls, the lift optimized to provide services arrives to collect passengers. The system also guides passengers to the appropriate lift heading for their floor. The lift system collects data on lift usage and traffic flows in the building and also optimizes its movements based on the information.

The Destination Control System is the hub of the new-era lift system. Its major features are an intelligent control system, passenger terminals on different floors and various equipment that informs passengers about the approaching lifts that are appropriate for them.

Destination Control System was developed by Etteplan’s Product Development and the Gallileo building in Frankfurt is the first to use it. Etteplan was responsible for product development and moreover, for project management, cooperation with subcontractors, technical design, implementation, testing, training as well as for the technical expertise of maintenance.