Elevators are selected to match the features of a property. For instance, customers buying into luxury developments expect the fastest, safest technology. Premium properties are seen to be smart buildings. And “elevator systems are an essential part of smart buildings, being one of many systems providing better comfort, efficiency, resilience and safety to tenants,” says Sandip Shah, AVP - Head, Contracts & Procurement, Omkar Realtors & Developers. Omkar’s uber-luxury project Omkar 1973 in Worli, Mumbai, has high-speed (6 m/s) elevators to take tenants to the top 73rd floor at a height of 270 m in just 45 seconds. Card access systems and mobile SMS access provide privacy to individual apartments. The destination-controlled advanced secured transit management system provides security. Energy-saving regenerative drives supply power back to the building. thyssenkrupp is installing five elevators of 6 m/s speed at Ruparel Realty’s upcoming luxury high-rise project Ruparel Ariana in Parel, Mumbai. Each customised elevator will make 70 stops as it traverses 244 m. It will feature noise-reducing materials from moving components, energy saving, a high-precision motor system that results in smooth braking and accurate levelling. Excalibur, a project developed by the Nahar Group, Mumbai, was aimed to be a building for apartment owners built around the theme of timelessness. As such, the design brief mandated interiors and amenities that would give occupants an unforgettable, extraordinary experience. “Timelessness has been built into the design, including the elevator,” says project leader Ajay Nahar, Managing Director, Nahar Group. “Excalibur’s elevators exemplify how a brand can be imprinted on an elevator. This is important because a brand reflects our ideologies and we seek to protect it.”   Excalibur’s elevators’ customised branded interiors include air-conditioning, sofa seating, LED TVs, ambient lighting through chandeliers and the brand logo laser etched on doors. Smart elevator and access card elevator control systems safeguard apartment owners. The elevators traverse 20 floors at 2.5 m/s, up to the terrace sky garden at a height of 101 m. Sometimes, developers need elevators installed speedily and, hence, choose a provider that can deliver in the necessary timeframe. KONE’s collaborative creative team works with a focused approach, highly efficient installation methods, strict quality criteria for each phase of installation and site audits ensuring ‘first time right every time’. For instance, in a project situated 350 km from Guwahati, installation of the elevators (manual with a full mid-bar collapsible gate and imperforate gate, with 0.63 m/s speed up to the seventh floor) was made possible in 15 days as against the conventional 10 weeks.