The 555-meter-tall (1,820 ft) Lotte World Tower opened in April, setting three world records and redefining the skyline in Seoul, South Korea. -AFP
After six years of construction, the 555-meter-tall (1,820 ft) Lotte World Tower opened in April, setting three world records and redefining the Seoul skyline. Not only is it the tallest tower in South Korea and fifth highest in the world -- dwarfing the Korean capital's next highest building, Three IFC Office Tower, by nearly 300 meters-it's also home to the highest glass-bottom observatory at 478 meters (1,568 ft).
The Lotte World Tower features the world's tallest and fastest double-decker elevator, the Sky Shuttle, which whisks passengers from the basement to the 121st-floor observation deck in one minute, or at 10 meters per second. From the top of the half kilometer-tall tower, visitors can survey the edges of Seoul's vast urban sprawl and the mountainous terrain beyond-only a handful of other skyscrapers in sight.
Lotte hired American elevator manufacturer the Otis Elevator Company to bring its double-deck Sky Shuttle to life. Consisting of two attached cabins stacked on top of each other, it simultaneously carries passengers to separate floors. Other famous structures featuring this type of technology include the Canton Tower, in Guangzhou; the Petronas Towers, in Kuala Lumpur; the Eiffel Tower, in Paris; and the Burj Khalifa, in Dubai.
Boasting twice the capacity of a conventional elevator each cabin holds 52 passengers the tower's lift directly connects the basement and the observation deck, skipping the floors in between which are full of shopping complexes, offices, and even a "seven star" hotel.
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