Starlift, also known as Starlift Voorburg, was a Dutch elevator manufacturer from Voorburg, Netherlands. The company was founded in 1927 and acquired by Kone in 1989. During the first years since the acquisition, the company was known as KONE Starlift from 1992 until 1999 when it was renamed into Kone. Starlift also had production sites in Drachten and Thorn.
History[]
Very little is known about the history of Starlift. The company was founded in 1927 in Voorburg. At some point, it had a partnership with Italian elevator manufacturer Daldoss, probably as a mean of selling Daldoss's Microlift dumbwaiters in the Netherlands. In the 1950s or 1960s, Starlift withdrew its overseas operations from their former colonies (such as Indonesia) as these colonies had become independent so there was no point of retaining its businesses in those countries. Between the 1950s and 1960s, Starlift partnered with an unknown German elevator company as an attempt to sell its elevators to the German market but this was unsuccessful.
In 1989, Kone sold the shares of Starlift as a mean of entering the Dutch elevator market. In 1992, the Kone office in Gorinchem was merged with Starlift's production facility and continued to operate under the name KONE Starlift. Subsequently, a number of regional offices were established throughout the country. In 1996, Kone Starlift moved to a new factory building in Leidschendam. In 1999, the company was renamed into KONE BV.
Notable installations[]
Netherlands[]
Amsterdam[]
- C&A, Damrak
- Delta Hotel Damrak
- Park Plaza Vondelpark
- NEMO Science Center
- Madame Tussauds Amsterdam (modernized from 1915 Otis elevator)
Groningen[]
- De Harmonie
- UMCG Hospital (modernized by Kone)
- Oosterpoort Parking Deck
- WO_MEN_AT_WORK
- WE Groningen
Others[]
- Maastricht Centraal Station, Maastricht
- GranietGroen Tower, Zoetermeer
- Thiemsbrug Parking Deck, Hengelo
- Apollo Hotel, Breda
- Vroom & Dreesmann, Sittard
- Vroom & Dreesmann, Hoorn
- Hotel Le Petit Nord, Hoorn
- Vlinderstad Shopping Center, Emmen
- Stedeborgh, Grootebroek
- Raadhuis Parking Deck, Heerlen
- Benedenbaantje, Bergen op Zoom
- Hotel at De Soete Moeder, Hertogenbosch
- Zeezicht, Hoek van Holland
- Eusebiu Church
Other countries[]
- Storgatan 43, Stan, Umeå, Sweden
- Museum Bank Mandiri (formerly the headquarters of NHM), Jakarta, Indonesia (1933, none of them are working anymore)[1]
- Bogor Agricultural University - Baranang Siang Campus, Indonesia (1960s, no longer work)
Trivia[]
- When Kone introduced the EcoDisc hoisting machine in 1996, it was known as "Greenstar" in the Netherlands. The Liftinstitut was heavily involved in the testing of the Kone EcoDisc technology in the Netherlands.
- Starlift was, for many years, the main sponsor and denominator of the nationally and internationally successful Voorburg volleyball association VISADE (formerly DES of Door Sterk), which at that time was called Starlift Voorburg.
Videos[]
Notes and references[]
- ↑ It is believed that some of them had been replaced or modernized by Schindler in (most likely) the 1950s or 1960s.