The president and the realization of a 30-year dream!

In 1984, Lotte Chairman at that time Mr. Shin Kyuk-ho started the Lotte World amusement park project in Seoul. Although many employees and outsiders are skeptical and concerned that, if building large hotels, commercial centers and entertainment facilities in the suburbs, is it appropriate? However, Shin Kyuk-ho insists that “commercial rights are creative”, resulting in Lotte World becoming Seoul’s iconic tourist destination, elevating the Korean tourism industry to a new level. Lotte World opened in 1989 and is currently listed in the Guinness Book of Records as the largest indoor amusement park in the world.

But Shin Kyuk-ho is still struggling with a great project of his life, which is to build the “second Lotte World”. “When will there be another big and beautiful building for tourists? We must build a proud world-class building that can be passed on to the next generation,” Shin Kyuk-ho said.

In 1987, Chairman Shin Kyuk-ho purchased land worth 81.9 billion won ($73.5 million at today’s exchange rate) from the Seoul city government. That same year, he announced the plan “Second Lotte World ” and it took exactly 30 years for the wish to come true.

In 2010, Shin Kyuk-ho began construction of the “Second Lotte World” he had always wanted, Lotte World Tower. The building was completed in 2017. It was Lotte’s founder’s great wish that he said it was his last dream of Lotte World Tower.

The tower was partially completed on December 22, 2015 and exterior finishing work was completed around December 2016 after 2,334 days of construction. The building was opened in April 2017. Three years after the wish to build the tallest tower in Korea was completed, on January 19, 2020, President Shin Kyuk-ho took his last breath at Asan Medical Center, at the age of 99.

Panorama of Lotte World Tower

Upon completion, with an overall height of 555.65 m, Lotte World Tower is the tallest building in Korea and the fifth tallest building in the world. The tower has 123 floors above ground with 42,000 windows and 6 floors below ground, is Korea’s first building higher than 100 stories. The construction of the roof alone required 3,000 tons of steel. High precision 64 ton tower crane and GPS alignment system, as well as skilled welding technicians were employed in the construction of the roof.

Inspired by traditional Korean art forms, most notably ceramics, porcelain and calligraphy, the building’s slim, sleek design provides a striking contrast to the mountainous terrain of the area.

The tower is also built to withstand major disasters, such as a 9.0 magnitude earthquake or strong winds like those seen during Hurricane Katrina (about 290 km/h).

The place where the world’s most advanced elevator technologies are deployed

The building includes offices, retail, and some of the most expensive apartments in South Korea. It also has a luxury hotel named Signiel Seoul. The top 10 floors of the building are reserved for public use and recreational facilities, including an observatory and a rooftop cafe.

Installing traction machine weighing more than 21 tons for Lotte World Tower

To get visitors to the top floors as quickly as possible, engineers designed a pair of high-tech double-decker elevators that can make the trip in just 60 seconds, says Otis, the building’s main elevator supplier. The two-story elevator, called the Sky Shuttle, travels at more than 10 meters per minute. This world’s longest double-cabin elevator has a travel of 496 meters and can accommodate 54 people at the same time. It runs from the 2nd basement to the observatory on the 121st floor in about 1 minute, has been certified by Guinness World Records as the world’s highest capacity elevator.

Otis also added that the super-elevators are equipped with a comprehensive sensor system that helps the elevators have all kinds of data about the surrounding environment, the operation status of the elevator, and safety devices to respond and handle of situations such as earthquakes, hurricanes and other emergencies.

The installation of the high-speed elevator system for the building is also extremely complicated. Four traction machines, each weighing more than 21 tons were installed into position without damaging the two towers. In a complex process that was rehearsed many times, the first traction machine had to be lifted from the ground to a point on the 12th floor. Once inside, special cranes and scaffolding were used to move the machines. securely and precisely into their correct positions without damaging the tops of the building.

In particular, the manufacturer Otis has partnered with LG Electronics to turn a guest’s one-minute journey in the elevator cabin into a breathtaking experience of its own. Organic LED (OLED) screens cover the wall and ceilings of each cabin. Once the doors are closed, passengers will be immersed in a virtual journey through the history of the city and its landmarks, including the 14th century Gyeongbok Palace, the National Assembly Building, the Ball Stadium Jamsil Base and Lotte World Tower itself.

An organic display system (OLED) covers the walls and ceiling of each cabin

In addition, every 20 floors, Lotte World Tower has 1 rescue floor, with its own rescue elevator on floors 22, 40, 60, 83, 102 (beyond the regulations for super high-rise buildings to have 1 rescue floor for each group of 30 floors). In the event of an emergency, 4 SkyRise elevators will act as rescue stations, moving between designated safe areas (floors 22, 40, 60, 83, 102) and the ground floor. These evacuation elevators are water and fire resistant, and feature backup power and a hoist pressurization system.

An attractive destination for tourists all over the world

One hundred days after opening, the tower attracted 10 million visitors, or about 120,000 people a day. People come to Lotte World Tower because of its many unique features. First, Lotte World Tower is the tallest bottom-up observable glass building in the world. Unique features also include the world’s tallest glass-bottom observatory and the world’s fastest double-decker elevator. Besides, Lotte World Tower owns the world’s highest swimming pool at the 85th floor and the world’s highest observatory at the 123rd floor with a height of 497.6 meters!

The diagrid structure (which is a combination of the grid of existing structures in nature with the principle of organizing the diagonal bar system in space) is applied to floor 107 and up allowing the tower to retain the beauty of its lantern shape while still withstanding earthquakes and strong winds. More than 20,000 glass panels are installed on the outside of the tower, ensuring wide viewing and making the tower a beautiful sparkling jewel in the sunlight and lights at night.

Fireworks scene on the tower

Lotte World Tower has also received the Emporis Award – Top 10 Skyscrapers, the world’s most famous award for high-rise architecture.

In 2018, a marathon “running in the sky” was held at the Tower. Athletes participating in the competition must climb its 2,917 steps to reach the top. There are also stair climbing marathons held in other countries, but the Lotte World Tower race is the longest and highest…

VNEA Chairman Nguyen Hai Duc in the machine room of the “super elevators” of Lotte World Tower

Recently, the delegation of Vietnam Elevator Association (VNEA) led by Mr. Nguyen Hai Duc, Chairman of the Association has visited and worked in Korea. In addition to the activities of exchanging experiences on occupational safety and vocational training in the field of elevators in Korea, the delegation visited and learned about the elevator system and elevator management process of Lotte World Tower.

Visiting the office of the late President Shin Kyuk-ho

Listening about the life of the late president of Lotte Group

The delegation visited the memorial museum of the late President Shin Kyuk-ho, the founder of Lotte Group. The museum is located in a large space of 680 m2 on the 5th floor of Lotte World Tower. There are many precious artifacts associated with the life of the late President Shin Kyuk-ho. In the late founder’s office, recreated at the museum, are Chairman Shin Kyuk-ho’s desk and the words “geohwachisil,” a Chinese saying that means pursuit of essence, stay away from superficial. A picture of a Korean agricultural village landscape is hung in a solemn position along with documents introducing the late President’s life.

Also in the trip to visit Lotte World Tower, the VNEA delegation approached the elevator equipment and was introduced to modern technology and management processes applied to the elevators used in the building./.