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The two-level retail boulevard within the podium of Emirates Towers had the form of two perpendicular corridors lined with retail stores stacked on top of each other. The corridor on the lower ground floor stretched in an east-west direction linking the retail entrances at the eastern and western sides of the podium, with tall skylights at either ends allowing in natural light as well as adding a touch of grandeur. The upper ground floor corridor, on the other hand, was laid out in a north-south direction connecting the hotel lobby with the office tower retail arcade. The two corridors met at a circular atrium, where pyramidal skylights providing an imposing view of the towers above and which provided a central circulation node for the whole retail boulevard. Retail parking was provided on the basement, as well as on the surface lot next to the west entrance; the difference between the two was that the surface lot was free while the basement parking was paid.
The boulevard had six passenger elevators and one service elevator (the latter located near the office tower), all supplied by Mitsubishi as was the case with the office and hotel towers. Among them, this video features the main passenger elevator, which was a panoramic glass unit located at the central atrium. It was a single-jack, direct-acting hydraulic elevator, with a circular cab inside a tight-fitting tubular shaft. Even the doors were curved to match the shape of the cab, which operated via a hub-and-spoke mechanism above the cab's ceiling. Nearly all of the cab's walls were made out of glass, allowing passengers a full view of the retail boulevard; even the COP had been relegated to a narrow beam next to the doors. The black rectangular buttons also found in the office garage elevators had been used on the hall stations, while a rather uncommon circular variant of such buttons had been used on the COP. The hall lantern above each landing was of the custom triangular type also found in the hotel tower. It ran quite smoothly with a low humming motor noise while in motion, and the typical jolt felt when starting and stopping was minimal, showing that it was still being well maintained after all those years. One problem with this, though, was that it was limited to a hydraulic option for a possible future modernization if the shaft was to be kept, owing to the unique circular shape of the cab that left no room for a counterweight; if an increase in speed and efficiency by modernizing to an MRL traction model was to be sought, there seemed to be no other option but to demolish the entire shaft and build it again.
Manufacturer: ETA-MELCO Elevator Co. L.L.C.
Model name: HVJ-G
Year of commission: 1999
Loading: 1,700kg (3,750lbs)
Capacity: 22 persons
Full speed: 0.5m/s (100FPM)
Serviced floors: *LL, UL