Denver, Colo., January 24, 2017 – KONE, a global leader in the elevator and escalator industry, has received top honors in Elevator World magazine’s “Project of the Year” for its escalator modernization project at the Denver Museum of Nature & Science.

The award-winning project, completed in March 2016, features four escalator modernizations in the 116-year-old museum. The KONE EcoMod™ solution was chosen for the project, as it delivered brand new escalator technology while retaining the original truss of the escalators. This allowed for a customized approach to help maintain easy access to exhibits throughout the museum and allow continuous operation during the escalator modernization process.

“This Project of the Year award is a wonderful testament to how our KONE EcoMod solution makes the escalator modernization process easier for building owners,” said Larry Wash, executive vice president of KONE Americas. “This award is a great validation of our quality product, and this particular project is an example of how KONE provides a unique, tailored solution to meet customer needs.”

The Denver Museum of Nature & Science is open 364 days a year and averages 1.6 million visitors annually. These hours of operation and influx of visitors created the challenge of conducting a major installation with minimal disruption. The KONE EcoMod solution allowed for the museum to forgo a major replacement of the truss, which would have impeded the flow of people through the main atrium of the museum. The museum hosted record-breaking attendance all while the first two escalators were being installed, a testament to how well the phased scheduling and implementation were executed.

This is KONE’s eleventh Project of the Year win since 2005 and the company’s sixth consecutive nod for the KONE EcoMod solution.

For more than a decade, Elevator World has recognized projects that highlight innovative design, special applications, or unique problem-solving solutions in vertical, horizontal, or inclined transportation. In order to be selected as a winner, each project is reviewed by a distinguished panel of industry specialists and judged on innovation, originality and creativity, as well as installation methods and techniques.

Media Contact:
Patrick O’Connell
317.374.4960
patrick.oconnell@kone.com

About KONE KONE is one of the global leaders in the elevator and escalator industry. KONE's objective is to offer the best People Flow® experience by developing and delivering solutions that enable people to move smoothly, safely, comfortably and without waiting in buildings in an increasingly urbanizing environment. KONE provides industry-leading elevators, escalators, automatic building doors and integrated solutions to enhance the People Flow in and between buildings. KONE's services cover the entire lifetime of a building, from the design phase to maintenance, repairs and modernization solutions. In 2015, KONE had annual net sales of EUR 8.6 billion, and at the end of the year close to 50,000 employees. KONE class B shares are listed on the NASDAQ OMX Helsinki Ltd. in Finland. For more information, see www.kone.us