Westfield Mall of the Netherlands, Leidschendam | 'Elevator pitch' for custom vertical transport delivery

The phased transformation of Leidsenhage into Westfield Mall of the Netherlands is in full swing. Otis is drawing and calculating on the complex's many elevators, escalators and moving walkways. "The important thing is to achieve timely delivery in close cooperation with our project partners. We do that at Otis with safety at number one, with a close-knit team and with trained subcontractors," says project manager Gerrit van Veenendaal.

The vertical transport manufacturer has been delivering in Leidschendam since mid-2016, with a lead time into 2020. "Some nice specials have been added, such as additional moving walkways at the parking deck of the Jumbo and a double escalator to the Kinepolis that functions as a single span  goes up almost ten meters. So there is still some engineering during execution on subprojects. We do that within Otis with a close-knit team of yours truly as preparatory project leader, Richard van Es as executive project leader and Marcel Verboom as engineer and BIM within the organization. There is weekly consultation with stakeholders on the construction site. We prefer to speak of a dynamic process."

'Lazy' escalators
Westfield Mall of the Netherlands (more than 200,000 m² GFA, 280 stores) will be equipped with dozens of points of ascent, a combination of escalators and moving walkways, goods elevators and passenger elevators. The escalators will be, as it is called in trade jargon, "lazy", with a thirty-degree inclination and three flat steps at the entry and exit points. "This creates a comfortable use of the escalator and an additional piece of safety. Because of the use of shopping carts and the connection to a parking deck, escalators were chosen at the Jumbo. All elevators are machine roomless and assembled on site. The goods and passenger elevators are spacious and have a capacity of 3,000 kilograms. The passenger elevators have a capacity of 1,000 kilograms and will have an extra wide door of 1,100 millimeters." 

eView system
The elevators are suspended on polyurethane-coated belts instead of steel cables, making them quieter. "The cabs are equipped with the eView system. The display, on which the floor data is presented, can be provided with all kinds of expressions online, such as an event calendar or the weather forecast. We presented such added value to client Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield; it really adds value to a shopping center. Also, one elevator installation was executed in a transparent shaft; these installations in turn receive extra attention in terms of finishing. This is a multi-year customized assignment. In the dimensioning and execution, we chose the quality, comfort and experience that suits this shopping center."