Egee Tower

Paris, France

Discover how Otis implemented the latest eco-efficient elevator technology to modernize a Paris high-rise

Completed in 1999 with a capacity for 3,800 people, the Egee Tower needed to modernize its elevator installations to increase reliability, improve traffic performance and meet today’s environmental challenges. Otis was there with the innovative solutions and technical know-how to make it happen – all while the building remained occupied.

Egee tower illustration

Project facts

Completed: 2023
Height: 155 Meters (~509 feet)
Floors: 39
Number of elevators: 22

Unique requirements

Otis was entrusted with modernizing all of the Egee Tower’s elevators to cut down on energy consumption, while minimizing waste and conserving as many existing elements as possible. This process also needed to be carried out in a way that maintained seamless service for existing occupants.

Otis innovation

Otis installed a total of 22 high-efficiency elevators, featuring regenerative and standby technologies that reduce the energy consumption of each unit. This included over a dozen SkyRise® elevators with CompassPlus® dispatching technology that helps get people to their destinations up to 20% faster. All elevators also included our EMS Panorama™ 2.0 elevator management system that puts greater visibility, control and decision-making right in the hands of building owners.

14 SkyRise Elevators with CompassPlus intelligent dispatching

EMS Panorama 2.0 for all elevators

8 Gen2 elevators

Safety Bridge

Preparing for the traffic and environmental needs of the future

The expertise of the Otis teams in managing modernization projects in an occupied environment enabled us to successfully complete the transformation of the Egee Tower, enabling our occupants to move into the tower more quickly and using less energy.

Linda Khirouni – Technical Manager at Constructa Asset Management

Egee Tower: Gateway to Europe’s largest business district

The Egee Tower is an office high rise located in the fast-growing La Défense district of Paris. Situated on the western edge of the city, La Défense contains a number of its tallest buildings, many of which have been updated in recent years with an eye towards increased sustainability.

Completed in 1999, the Egee Tower can accommodate 3,800 people, boasts 22 units across 39 floors, and has been home to several leading international companies. Along with its twin, the Adria Tower, it serves as an entrance to the heights within the busy business district.

Efficient elevator design

More than two decades after its initial construction, the Egee Tower was looking to streamline the way its elevators moved people throughout the building. This modernization needed to make the installations more reliable, improve traffic performance and overcome today’s environmental challenges. But most importantly, it needed to be carried out with minimal disruption, as the tower was still fully occupied during the entire work period.

Otis was entrusted to deliver a tailor-made solution that met these requirements, utilizing the latest in regenerative and standby technology while reusing as many existing elements as possible. In addition to creating a more sustainable system for the Egee Tower, the project would hopefully provide a blueprint for other building owners seeking to modernize their elevators.

Passenger flow study led to minimal disruptions

Perhaps the biggest challenge that Otis had to overcome was completing this modernization in an occupied environment. Before work began, we conducted passenger flow studies to understand traffic and minimize disruption to occupants. Then,we modernized one elevator in each bank at a time, using our patented Safety Bridga technology for high rise buildings. Fortunately, we never needed to use the Safety Bridge-and themodernization was completed successfully and without incident.

Solution

Otis has deep experience developing and installing the world’s most advanced elevator solutions, including technologies that reduce energy use and increase operational efficiencies compared to the existing system. Armed with this expertise, we were ready to replace the Egee Tower’s existing elevator infrastructure with a more future-ready system.

We started by installing 14 Skyrise elevators and 8 Gen2 elevators featuring regenerative and standby technologies, in combination with high-efficiency, low-voltage architecture. By removing all of the buildings’ hydraulic machines, which are particularly energy-intensive, we were able to achieve a 30% reduction in the elevator systems energy consumption.

The size and weight of the SkyRise elevator machines presented a unique challenge, as they couldn’t be delivered fully-assembled to the machine rooms as they would for a new equipment project. For this modernization, the 14 four-ton machines were brought up in pieces and assembled inside the narrow machine room.

The Skyrise elevators also included our CompassPlus® intelligent dispatching technology, customized specifically to meet the needs of the Egee Tower. By grouping passengers and stops, CompassPlus can help people arrive at their destinations up to 20% faster, while offering modern aesthetics and the ability to integrate with security systems. And by equipping all elevators with our EMS Panorama™ 2.0 elevator management system, we made the whole system even easier for staff to monitor and control.

Throughout the project, we worked to conserve as many existing elements as possible, including most of the elevator guides, cabins, counterweights, controllers and landing doors. That resulted in approximately 350 tons of steel that didn’t have to be manufactured, avoiding about 700 tons of CO2 emissions. All told, about 60% of waste from the project was optimized or recycled.

Since its construction, the Egee Tower has stood as a symbol of growth and progress in one of the world’s most recognizable business districts. With the help of the latest eco-efficient elevator technologies and our extensive expertise, Otis is proud to be a part of this project.