Summary
Otis has received the Guinness World Records title for “Tallest Elevator in a Building” for two elevators at Tianjin 117 in Tianjin, China, the company said on 6 November 2026. The two SkyRise cars rise 597.2 metres to the building’s observation deck. The announcement of the title comes from Otis; the record applies to that pair of elevators alone. The tower is not finished. Otis said Tianjin 117 is scheduled for completion by the end of 2027, and that the 117-storey building is slated to be home to the highest occupied floor in China as well as the tallest elevators in a building. The company gave no opening date for the observation deck. Otis said the two record-setting SkyRise elevators combine precision engineering and intelligent connectivity to carry visitors to the observation deck, and called the project an example of advanced structural and elevator engineering. “Supertall buildings express what people can achieve through ambition, ingenuity and engineering, and they become defining features of the cities around them,” said Judy Marks, Otis chair, chief executive and president. “The Guinness World Records recognition at Tianjin 117 demonstrates the capabilities of Otis’ advanced high-rise elevator technology and the expertise of the teams who install and service it.” Marks said she had visited the building during its construction. What Otis is installing in the 117-storey tower Otis is the sole elevator and escalator provider for Tianjin 117 and is supplying 266 units for the building, along with specialist field capabilities to support installation at the height involved. The 266 units include SkyRise and Gen3 elevators, Otis Link commercial escalators and heavy-duty Public Escalators. The two elevators that Otis says carry the Guinness title are part of that total. More than 200 Otis specialists have contributed to the project. The company said the work demanded close coordination, disciplined execution and a focus on safety and quality on an expedited construction schedule. “Extraordinarily tall buildings depend on extraordinary vertical transportation,” said Sally Loh, president of Otis Greater China. “Tianjin 117 demonstrates what is possible by combining Otis’ engineering, design and manufacturing leadership and top-notch field execution.” Loh said the company was proud to work with Tianjin 117 to set a new world record while delivering safety, reliability and efficiency. Otis, listed on the New York Stock Exchange as OTIS, is headquartered in Connecticut and says it employs 72,000 people, including 45,000 field professionals. The company says it moves 2.5 billion people a day and maintains about 2.5 million customer units in more than 200 countries and territories. How the cabs are built for 597.2 metres The cabs are sound-insulated and use aerodynamic design, computational fluid dynamics simulation and wind-tunnel testing. Otis said that design work is intended to minimise wind noise and manage air-pressure effects during high-speed travel. Power and control come from Otis SkyMotion machines, controllers and ultra-high-strength steel ropes. Otis said the hardware provides the power and precision to withstand the forces generated by moving large loads at the speeds required in supertall buildings. Otis ReGen drive technology recovers energy from braking and returns it to the building’s power grid. Otis said two connected systems run alongside the hardware. The Panorama 3 elevator management system provides real-time elevator monitoring and passenger-flow management, and the Otis ONE connected service solution supports data-driven, proactive maintenance. Double-deck cars still to come The Tianjin 117 project is also poised to set several Otis records, the company said. The building is to receive 50 Otis SkyRise double-deck elevators and three SkyRise super-double-deck elevators, which Otis said will be the most Otis double-deck elevators in any building. The three super-double-deck elevators will travel at speeds of up to 10 metres per second with a rise of 463 metres. Otis said those will be the fastest and highest-rise Otis super-double-deck elevators in the world. Two of the double-deck elevators will travel at speeds of up to 12 metres per second, which Otis said will be the fastest in its portfolio. Those speeds and that rise apply to the planned double-deck and super-double-deck cars, which are separate units from the two record-holding elevators. Otis gave no travel speed for the pair that serve the observation deck. Double-deck elevators stack two cabs in the same hoistway, allowing one elevator to serve adjacent floors and reducing the space taken by the elevator core. Super-double-deck elevators can vary the distance between the two cabs, which accommodates different floor heights through the building. Otis said the Guinness World Records title closely follows certification from the Council on Vertical Urbanism that the elevators at Tianjin 117 will be the world’s tallest. The council also certified that Tianjin 117 will have the highest occupied floor in China.