Egee Tower

Paris, France

Discover how Otis modernized a Paris high-rise to contribute to its sustainability.

Completed in 1999 with a capacity for 3,800 people, the Egee Tower needed to modernize its elevator installations to increase reliability and improve traffic performance and the sustainability of the building. 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 while maintaining seamless service for existing occupants.

Otis innovation

Otis installed a total of 22 elevators equipped with our ReGen™ drive technology, sleep mode functionality and LED lighting to help reduce energy consumption. This included over a dozen SkyRise™ elevators with Otis 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 Otis SkyRise elevators with Otis CompassPlus intelligent dispatching

Otis EMS Panorama 2.0 for all elevators

8 Otis Gen2® elevators

Safety Bridge

Preparing for the building's future traffic and energy-performance needs

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.

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 advanced elevator solutions. 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 Otis Skyrise elevators and 8 Otis Gen2 elevators featuring our ReGen drive that feeds electrical energy back into the building power grid during braking which can then be used to drive other equipment in the building. and our sleep mode technology that shuts down the unit when not in use, in combination with low-voltage architecture.

The size and weight of the Otis 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 Otis Skyrise elevators also included our CompassPlus® intelligent dispatching technology, customized specifically to meet the needs of the Egee Tower. By grouping passengers and stops, Otis 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.

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. Otis is proud to be a part of this project.