The largest elevator ever constructed is located in one of the most dense nations in the world.
Mitsubishi Electric announced on Wednesday that it has installed five large-capacity elevators in the 41-story Umeda Hankyu Building in Osaka, Japan.
Each elevator car can each carry 80 passengers, or an astounding 11,574 lbs.
Even more mind-blowing: the interior of each car is 11.15 ft. wide, 9.2 ft. long and 8.5 ft. tall. (That might be bigger than my New York City apartment!)
The elevators function as shuttles and carry passengers nonstop from the building’s first floor lobby to its 15th floor Sky Lobby.
Mitsubishi explains why the elevators are so helpful:
Umeda Hankyu Building has a doublelayer structure, with Hankyu Department Store Umeda Main Store occupying the lower levels from floors B2 through 13, and offices located on the higher levels from floors 15 through 41. The elevators provide Umeda Hankyu office employees and visitors direct access to the office area. On the 15th floor, passengers are able to select from three different elevator banks according to their destination. The A bank serves floors 17 through 25, the B bank serves floors 26 through 33 and the C bank serves floors 34 through 41. There are six new elevators for each bank, also supplied by Mitsubishi Electric.
Naturally, the cars are equipped with glass windows so riders can see outside.
