A detailed analysis of pedestrian circulation in complex buildings needs to integrate the Vertical Transportation (VT) component. For this purpose, Systematica has recently focused on VT, exploring further state-of-art analytical references and handbooks, available technologies and complex micro-simulation software. Research is complemented through actual applications on a number of projects involving the design of both public and private VT systems, including escalators, travelators and elevators tailoring design to various project typologies and to different user behaviours and needs.

A good example of the recently developed VT appointment is Iran Mall Office Tower. Iran Mall Office Tower is a 45-storey building located atop Iran Mall’s western expansion. The tower is a 285m tall building (lobby to roof terrace) designed to become a prime location for local and international companies’ headquarters. The lowest parking floor is 57.5m below the main lobby, hence the maximum elevation gap to be covered by elevators is 342.5m. The design of VT system for the tower requires a detailed analysis for defining the best proposal and to cope with the very high-performance level required by the client. With the aim to rationalise the design proposal, the entire tower is programmatically organised into 5 different sections, each one is directly connected to the main lobby: parking, low-rise, mid-rise, high-rise, and VIP.

As a first step, the total building population is estimated and standard arrival profiles are identified based on the type of use for identifying the peak hour and hourly demand. Once demand is estimated, simulations are run through a specialist software which provides detailed output on queue lengths, waiting times and time to destination of every single elevator and elevator group with the ultimate aim of calculating the number of required elevators and their optimal configuration and characteristics. This information allows for a better understanding of system performance and potential criticalities, ensuring a scientific basis for further comparisons among different VT solutions and demand scenarios and unexpected surges.