11 of the most unusual elevators

Posted on 2013/06/12

Elevators have a simple task: take passengers from one floor to another safely. But it doesn’t mean that they have to be boring. Elevator towers for urban transport and modern design elevators attract great attention of tourists, because of its uniqueness, unusual looks and the driving experience. Let’s have a closer look at the most unusual elevators around the world.

1. AquaDom, Germany


The AquaDom in Berlin, Germany, is a 25 metre (82ft) tall cylindrical acrylic glass aquarium with built-in transparent elevator. It is located at the Radisson Blu Hotel in Berlin-Mitte.  The DomAquarée complex also contains a hotel, offices, a restaurant, and the aquarium Sea Life Centre.




The outside cylinder was manufactured on-site from four pieces; the inside cylinder for the elevator was delivered in one piece. The Aquadom is the largest acrylic cylindrical aquarium in the world, with a diameter of about 11 metres (36ft), and it is built on a 9 metre (30ft) tall foundation.



2. Falkirk Wheel, UK


The Falkirk Wheel is a rotating boat lift in Scotland. It connects the Forth and Clyde Canal with the Union Canal. Named after the nearby town of Falkirk in central Scotland, the lift opened in 2002. The two canals it serves were previously connected by a series of 11 locks, but by the 1930s these had fallen into disuse. The locks were filled in and the land built upon.


The difference in height of the two canals at the wheel is 24 metres (79 ft), roughly equivalent to the height of an eight-storey building. But the Union Canal is 11 m (36ft) higher than the aqueduct which meets the wheel, and boats must pass through a pair of locks to descend from this canal onto the aqueduct at the top of the wheel. The aqueduct could not have been positioned higher due to conflicts with the historically important Antonine Wall.



The Falkirk Wheel cost £17.5 million, and the restoration project as a whole cost £84.5 million. The Falkirk Wheel Visitor Centre offers scheduled one-hour, round trip boat tours, called “The Falkirk Wheel Experience”, that include passage on the wheel. The tours start below the wheel in the Forth & Clyde Canal, ascend via the wheel to the Union Canal, visit nearby areas on the Union Canal, and then return. [linkmap]

3. Globen Skyview, Sweden

STOCKHOLM 100224 Globen Skyview Foto: Sören Andersson COPYRIGHT SÖREN ANDERSSON

Skyview is a gondola lift built on the south side of the Ericsson Globe, Stockholm. The Ericsson Globe is currently the largest hemispherical building in the world and took two and a half years to build. Shaped like a large white ball, it has a diameter of 110 metres (361 feet) and an inner height of 85 metres (279 feet).

STOCKHOLM 100224 Globen Skyview Foto: Sren Andersson COPYRIGHT SREN ANDERSSON

The lift is 100 metres (330 ft), and consists of two spherical cabins, which gives the visitors an entertaining ride up to the top of the Globe, which is about 130 metres (425ft) above sea level.


The project began in 2004 and opened in February 2010. 160,000 people rode during the first year of operation.


During the summer and on weekends all available tours can sell out, so pre-booking is recommended. [linkmap]

4. Hammetschwand Elevator, Switzerland

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The hotel resort Buergenstock located at 847 meters a.s.l. (2.780ft) has been a popular vacation spot since 1872. Its attractiveness was enhanced by the spectacular path along the vertical rock face and by an outdoor open lift. To this day the lift and the path have lost none of their attraction.


The new lift was built and opened by the Schindler Group. It whisks passengers 153 meters (500ft) up to the summit of the Hammetschwand in less than one minute. It was regarded as a pioneering feat in those days and is still a record holder, since the Hammetschwand lift is holding the number one position as Europe’s highest exterior lift. [linkmap]

5. Bailong Elevator, China




The environmental effects of the elevator have been a subject of debate and controversy, as the Wulingyan area was designated a World Heritage Site in 2002. Operations were stopped for 10 months in 2002-2003, reportedly due to safety concerns, not environmental ones.


Bailong Elevator takes less than 2 minutes to climb to the summit and is said to be the highest and, quickest sightseeing elevator in the world, with the greatest capacity (50 people). [link1link2map]

6. Gateway Arch Elevator, USA


One of the “must sees” of St. Louis, Missouri, is the Gateway Arch. To go to the top of the Arch, passengers in groups of five enter an egg-shaped compartment containing five seats and a flat floor. Eight compartments are linked to form a train.





7. Santa Justa Lift, Portugal


The Santa Justa Lift, also called Carmo Lift, is an elevator/lift in civil parish of Santa Justa, in the historical city of Lisbon, situated at the end of Rua de Santa Justa. It connects the lower streets of the Baixa with the higher Largo do Carmo (Carmo Square.) Since its construction (1901), the Lift has become a tourist attraction for Lisbon as, among the urban lifts in the city, Santa Justa is the only remaining vertical one.


On the top floor is a kiosk and lookout, with panoramic views of the city, while connections to the floors below are made (in addition to the elevator) by two spiral staircases, with different patterns on each storey. The main machinery was installed at the base of the Elevator, while at the exit to the Largo do Carmo there is a veranda to allow circulation. The corridor that passes above the structure, was transformed into a terrace, and exits to Largo do Carmo through an iron gate.



8. Lacerda Elevator, Brazil


The Lacerda Elevator is located in the city of SalvadorBahia. One of the principal touristic points and postcards of the city, it’s situated in the Cayru Plaza, and connects the Cidade Baixa (Lower City) with the Cidade Alta (Upper City).

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The most famous elevator of Bahia transports some 900 thousand passengers per month or around 28 thousand passengers per day at the cost of five centavos (2 US cents) per passenger and a duration of 30 seconds. This elevator reaches a height of 72 meters (235ft).


Like the elevator in Lisbon, this striking construction transports the public from one level of the town to the next, at the same time providing a perfect view of the bay coastline below. [linkmap]

9. Mercedes-Benz Museum Elevators, Germany


Though every object, including the World’s Largest Artificial Tornado, at the Mercedes-Benz Museum, an automotive museum in Stuttgart, Germany, has its own charm and history related to it, but the pill-like elevators moving up and down on three like vertical tracks in the main atrium of the museum gives an amazing experience the visitors.


Connecting to the various floors of the museum, the metal pods combining an abstract ghost like exterior with dramatic lighting within creates the feeling of awe and wonder, while moving the visitors from past to present in a short span of time.


The trip only takes about 30 seconds so feel free to ride multiple times. You might want to pop off every once in a while to see the exhibits, covering 125 years of motoring landmarks, and to see the inspiration behind the elevators’ uber-modern look. [link1link2map]

10. Asansör, Turkey


Asansör (Turkish for “elevator”) is a historical building in İzmir’s Karataş quarter, within the boundaries of the metropolitan district of Konak.




In time, the small street that led to the building also came to be known under the same name, Asansör Street. Currently, top of Asansör is one of the most famous restaurants in Izmir. [linkmap]

11. Oregon City Municipal Elevator, USA


The Oregon City Municipal Elevator is a 130-foot (40 m) elevator which connects two neighborhoods in Oregon City in the U.S. state of Oregon. It is the only outdoor municipal elevator in the US and one of only four in the world. The upper portion contains an observation deck which accounts for its flying saucer appearance.

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The elevator has an operator. It is open 6:45 AM to 7 PM, Monday through Saturday; 11 AM to 7 PM Sunday Pacific Time. There is no charge to use the elevator. It was carrying an average of 500 people per day as of 1989, and by 2008 this had grown to nearly 800. Ridership is as high as 1,300 people per day during the city’s summer tourist season. [link,map]

Source: theworldgeography.com

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