Sky lobby

(Redirected from Skylobby)

A sky lobby is an intermediate interchange floor in a skyscraper where people can change from an express elevator that stops only at the sky lobby to a local elevator that stops at a subset of higher floors.

The sky lobby in Central Plaza, Hong Kong

Early uses of the sky lobby include the original Twin Towers of the World Trade Center and 875 North Michigan Avenue in Chicago.[1]

Nearly 200 people were estimated to have been in the 78th floor sky lobby of the South Tower of the original World Trade Center when it was hit directly by United Airlines Flight 175, leaving only around a dozen who survived the impact and escaped the tower before it collapsed.[2][3]

One World Trade Center (Manhattan)

edit

One World Trade Center is the tallest skyscraper in New York City. Like the original World Trade Center buildings it replaced, the new building has a sky lobby to reduce the amount of space devoted to elevators. The sky lobby is on the 64th floor; Each set of five to six stories is served by a separate bank of elevators. The elevators to the sky lobby, along with the ones used for the nonstop service to the 100th-floor One World Observatory, are the fastest in the Western Hemisphere. The observatory elevator transports passengers 100 floors in under one minute.[4]

875 North Michigan Avenue (Chicago)

edit

The John Hancock Center's sky lobby on the 44th floor serves only the residential portion of the building that occupies 48 floors (floors 45–92). Three express elevators run from the residential lobby on the ground floor to the 44th floor, with all three of the elevators stopping at one of the parking garage levels.[5] At floor 44, residents transfer to two banks of three elevators. One bank serves 21 floors (floors 45–65) and the other serves 28 floors (floors 65–92). Although all six elevators stop at floor 65, this floor is roughly the same layout as the residential floors immediately above and below it. It is not a sky lobby because residents can also board elevators to higher floors at floor 44.[6]

The tower's 44th floor sky lobby includes a pool, gym, dry cleaner, convenience store, about 700 mailboxes, two "party" rooms, a sitting area overlooking Lake Michigan, a small library, a refuse room (with trash chutes emptying here), offices for the managers of the residential condominium,[7] and a polling station for residents during elections.

Floors above 92 are serviced by direct passenger elevators from the ground floor, and by two freight elevators that serve 55 floors (floors 44 to 98).[8]

Buildings with sky lobbies

edit
 
The former World Trade Center, designed by Minoru Yamasaki, used sky lobbies, located on the 44th and 78th floors of each tower.
 
View from the sky lobby in the JPMorgan Chase Tower, Houston (the roof of TC Energy Center building is visible through the window)
 
The Nina Tower sky lobby
Building Name Year Location Floors of sky lobby(s)
875 North Michigan Avenue 1969 Chicago, Illinois, United States 44
30 Hudson Yards 2019 New York City, New York, United States 35
1 World Trade Center (1971–2001) 1972 New York City, New York, United States 44, 78
2 World Trade Center (1971–2001) 1973 New York City, New York, United States 44, 78
Willis Tower 1973 Chicago, Illinois, United States 33/34, 66/67
NatWest Tower 1980 London, United Kingdom 23/24
JPMorgan Chase Tower (Houston) 1982 Houston, Texas, United States 60
Wells Fargo Plaza (Houston) 1983 Houston, Texas, United States 34/35, 58/59
Williams Tower 1983 Houston, Texas, United States 51
Columbia Center 1985 Seattle, Washington, United States 40
Miami Tower 1987 Miami, Florida, United States 11
Seattle Municipal Tower 1990 Seattle, Washington, United States 40
Petronas Twin Towers 1999 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia 41/42
Izumi Garden Tower 2002 Tokyo, Japan
First World Hotel 2008 Genting Highlands, Pahang, Malaysia 3, 8
Taipei 101 2004 Taipei, Taiwan 35/36, 59/60
Shin Kong Life Tower 1993 Taipei, Taiwan 16
Revenue Tower 1990 Wan Chai North, Hong Kong 38
Immigration Tower 1990 Wan Chai North, Hong Kong 38
Central Plaza 1992 Wan Chai North, Hong Kong 46
The Center 1998 Central, Hong Kong 42
Two International Finance Centre 2003 Central, Hong Kong 33, 35, 55, 56
Bloomberg Tower 2004 New York City, New York, United States 6, 20
Nina Tower 2006 Tsuen Wan, New Territories, Hong Kong 41
One Island East 2005 Quarry Bay, Hong Kong 36, 37
The Bow 2007 Calgary, Alberta, Canada 18, 36, 58
Shanghai World Financial Center 2008 Shanghai, China 28/29, 52/53
Burj Khalifa 2010 Dubai, United Arab Emirates 43, 76, 123
200 West Street 2009 New York City, New York, United States 11
International Commerce Centre 2010 West Kowloon, Hong Kong 48/49, 88, 98/99
Jeddah Tower 2020 Jeddah, Saudi Arabia 42/43, 75/76, 125/126[9]
One World Trade Center(2014-) 2014 New York City, New York, United States 64
Rosslyn Central Place Office Tower 2016 Arlington, Virginia, United States 6
Lakhta Center 2018 Saint Petersburg, Russia 29/30, 53/54
Australia 108 2019 Melbourne, Australia 83, 84[10][11]
Wilshire Grand Tower 2017 Los Angeles, California, United States 70
Shanghai Tower 2015 Shanghai, China 22/23, 37/38, 52/53, 68/69, 101
Wuhan Greenland Center 2018 Wuhan, China 25/26, 49/50, 70, 116/117
Tokyo Sky Tree 2012 Sumida, Tokyo, Japan 4F, 350m
Abeno Harukas 2014 Osaka, Japan 17/18, 19/20
Wisma 46 1996 Jakarta, Indonesia 46
Merdeka 118 2021 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia 40/41, 75/76
UOB Plaza Tower One 1995 Singapore, Singapore 37–38
S2 Building EEPIS 2015 Surabaya, Indonesia 1[12]
Abraj Al-Bait Clock Tower 2012 Makkah, Saudi Arabia M2,[13] M4[14]
Plaza Tunjungan 5 2015 Surabaya, Indonesia 20
311 South Wacker Drive 1990 Chicago, Illinois, United States 46
Lurie Children's Hospital 2012 Chicago, Illinois, United States 11
Djamaa el Djazaïr 2019 Algiers, Algeria 4

References

edit
  1. ^ "Otis History: The World Trade Center". Otis Elevator Company. Archived from the original on 2006-11-15. Retrieved 2006-12-07.
  2. ^ Neal, Rome (2002-09-10). "A Sept. 11 Survivor's Tale". CBS News. Retrieved 2022-11-27.
  3. ^ Corbett, Glenn (2018-09-05). "How the Design of the World Trade Center Claimed Lives on 9/11". HISTORY. Retrieved 2022-11-27.
  4. ^ "Fastest Elevators in the West Climb Tallest Skyscraper in the West". Scientific American. May 21, 2015. Retrieved January 30, 2020.
  5. ^ "Residential Sky Lobby elevators". YouTube. January 1, 2020. Retrieved March 12, 2020.[dead YouTube link]
  6. ^ "Residential Elevators at 875 N Michigan Ave". YouTube. January 1, 2020. Retrieved March 12, 2020.[dead YouTube link]
  7. ^ "The John Hancock Center". Earl Reid. Retrieved 2008-01-07.
  8. ^ "Residential Service elevators". YouTube. January 8, 2020. Retrieved March 12, 2020.[dead YouTube link]
  9. ^ "Adrian Smith interview". WTTW. August 4, 2011. Retrieved 2011-08-07.
  10. ^ "Six Star Hotel – Australia 108". Archived from the original on 2013-04-26. Retrieved 2013-03-19.
  11. ^ "Rising high: 108-storey super tower planned for Melbourne". The West Australian. 2012-11-12. Retrieved 2013-03-19.
  12. ^ This is not a ground floor, and in other building on EEPIS complex, this floor is known as 2nd floor.
  13. ^ Used as the hotel lobby
  14. ^ Used as the serviced apartments lobby