Hitachi Standard Elevator Wins the Red Dot Design Award

Tokyo, May 29, 2024 –Hitachi, Ltd. (TSE:6501, hereafter Hitachi) and Hitachi Building Systems Co., Ltd. (hereafter Hitachi Building Systems) today announced that they won the international design award Red Dot Award: Product Design 2024 for their latest standard elevator Urban Ace HF Plus. The award organized by Design Zentrum Nordrhein Westfalen in Essen, Germany. This elevator also had won the Good Design Award in October 2023, which is organized by the Japan Institute of Design Promotion. This time is the second consecutive award following last year.

Overview of the Red Dot Design Award

The Red Dot Design Award is one of the largest design competitions and internationally prestigious design award that has been held since 1955. It is considered one of the world's top three design awards, along with the iF Design Award and the International Design Excellence Awards (IDEA). The award breaks down into three disciplines: Product Design, Brand & Communication Design, and Design Concept. The judging is based on criteria such as the originality, quality, and significance of the design. The Red Dot logo has become globally recognized as a symbol of high-quality design.

The Features of Hitachi Standard Elevator, Urban Ace HF Plus

The standard elevator Urban Ace HF Plus launched in April 2023 was supervised by Naoto Fukasawa, a world-renowned product designer and the representative of NAOTO FUKASAWA DESIGN LTD. It is a new series of standard elevator Urban Ace HF released in 2021 that embodies HUMAN FRIENDLY (HF), the development concept of products and services of Hitachi elevators and escalators. Urban Ace HF Plus expanded the design variations of the hallway design that can be selected with paid (optional) specifications, just like the former standard elevator Urban Ace HF. It also supports the latest digital solutions such as the V2X* system that enables elevator use during power outages through power supply from electric vehicles, and security service that allows entering from the apartment entrance to the residential floor by facial recognition utilized as a door key. Furthermore, compared to the former standard elevator, the maximum hoistway height has been increased by 40 m to 100 m, and the maximum capacity has been expanded by 750 kg to 1,750 kg. This allows for the provision of advanced design and digital features, including enhanced resilience to disasters, to a greater number of buildings.

*

V2X (Vehicle to X): A term for technology that enables the connection and mutual cooperation between vehicles and various objects. In the energy field, the practical use of V2X systems, which connect electric vehicles with homes, buildings, and power grids, is proceeding to enable mutual power supply.

Related Links

About Hitachi, Ltd.

Hitachi drives Social Innovation Business, creating a sustainable society through the use of data and technology. We solve customers' and society's challenges with Lumada solutions leveraging IT, OT (Operational Technology) and products. Hitachi operates under the 3 business sectors of "Digital Systems & Services" – supporting our customers' digital transformation; "Green Energy & Mobility" – contributing to a decarbonized society through energy and railway systems, and "Connective Industries" – connecting products through digital technology to provide solutions in various industries. Driven by Digital, Green, and Innovation, we aim for growth through co-creation with our customers. The company's revenues as 3 sectors for fiscal year 2023 (ended March 31, 2024) totaled 8,564.3 billion yen, with 573 consolidated subsidiaries and approximately 270,000 employees worldwide. For more information on Hitachi, please visit the company's website at https://www.hitachi.com.