Encompassing twelve shafts, including one fire brigade and one glazed panoramic lift, the tallest textile-clad building in the world also hosts a new revolutionary multi elevator with no cables and sideways moving capability tested within three shafts.
Despite its imposing height, the tower maintains a light and filigree appearance deriving from its cladding made of fiberglass fabric, which hides the concrete shaft underneath. The fabric cover starts closely at the base of the tower, reflecting the light in different ways at different times of the day and year while delivering a constantly changing look.
Wrapping up almost the entire tower, this textile cover takes into account wind load, maintenance and weather resistance issues and consists of a PTFE-coated glass fiber fabric with increasing transparency from bottom to top. It also provides weather protection, reducing the considerable stresses induced by solar radiation in the concrete structure of the tower.
In charge of the distribution of GRIVEN products in Germany, the sister company Hess took care of the project requirements directly with thyssenkrupp. According to the lighting design subsequently conceived by GRIVEN, very powerful lighting fixtures were needed to light up the whole height of the tower from its basement. Powershine MK2 S in RGBW colour configuration were identified as the best solution to guarantee a perfectly even illumination with intense and bright colours, as desired by the property. In order to reach a uniform distribution, the selected units were arranged in two circles at the base of the tower. A total of 24 Powershine MK2 S RGBW with wide optics (yellow dots in the attached scheme), installed on custom metal supports manufactured by the sister company Hess, form an inner circle and light up the lower part of the tower. The outer ring, fitted with 20 Powershine MK2 S RGBW (red dots) with medium optics, is responsible for the illumination of the upper half of the tower, slightly dimming towards the top in order to deliver a visual lightness. Special housings were developed to accommodate these powerful wall washers, now discreetly blending into the surrounding area.