History of elevators in Indonesia

This page contains a brief history of elevators in Indonesia.

Due to a lack of elevator history and record in Indonesia, information provided in this page is **very limited** and therefore it desperately need more information, whether in publications or online sites. However, it is strongly adviced that the information provided **must be reliable, proven and creditable** enough to be put in this page.

## 1990s - 1910s (colonial era)

### London Sumatra elevator - the first elevator in Indonesia (1908)

It is believed that the first elevator in Indonesia was installed in 1908, in the London Sumatra (Lonsum) Building in Medan, North Sumatra. It is also said to be the first electric elevator installed in the city.

According to an April 2016 Kompas newspaper article (see photo attached on this section), the elevator was manufactured by R. Waygood & Co. from London, England, an elevator manufacturer founded in 1833 by Richard Waygood and was acquired by Otis in 1914. It still exists as of today today, and still manually controlled. It is also said that the current elevator operator have been operating this historic elevator since 1986. Very little has changed in this elevator. With an age of 110 years right now, it is now considered to be the oldest elevator still operating in Indonesia.

### Jiwasraya Building (Semarang) elevator (1917)

In 1917, an elevator of what appears to be the oldest Otis elevator found in Indonesia so far was installed in the Jiwasraya Building in Semarang. It is a gated, manually-controlled elevator from 1917 according to some sources. Sadly it has stopped working since in the 1970's. It is unknown if this elevator still exists today. It is highly believed that the elevator was not directly installed by Otis, but rather by a local company called **Fred Stieltjes & Co.**, as Otis did not officially started its business in Indonesia until at least 1992.

Link to the article of this elevator (*Indonesian*) (*Archived version*)

A video of how the elevator look like can be seen below.

 Berkas:Mengintip Lift Tertua di Indonesia

## 1960s-1970s

Very little information of elevators in Indonesia is known after World War II.

In 1961-1962, in preparation for the 4th Asian Games that would be hosted in Jakarta in 1962, Otis through its former distributor PT. Pembangunan Perumahan (a state-owned construction firm) installed elevators at Hotel Indonesia, which was built by architect Abel Sorensen. It is not known when the original 1960s elevators were replaced but it is speculated it was sometime in the 1980s or 1990s. In 2008-2009, the elevators were replaced again by Otis when the hotel was being renovated before it reopened as Hotel Indonesia Kempinski.

Some people believes that the original elevators in this hotel were the first elevator installed in Indonesia. However, this is **completely wrong**. In fact there were a few elevators which were installed long before Hotel Indonesia was completed, such as the antique elevator at the London Sumatra Building in Medan (1908) or the Jiwasraya Building elevator in Semarang (1917).

The first escalators in Indonesia were installed in 1964 at the Sarinah department store in Jakarta. Manufactured by Hitachi and installed by its distributor PT. Sarang Teknik, these escalators can still be seen today and still operating. They are considered to be the oldest escalators still running in Indonesia.

 Berkas:My Turn Vintage 1964 Hitachi Escalators - Sarinah Mall, Jakarta, ID
## 1980s

*This section requires expansion.*

Around the 1980s, Asosiasi Produsen dan Pemborong Lift dan Eskalator (APPLE) (English: "Association of Lift and Escalator Manufacturers and Contractors") was formed. Led by Ir. Soejono, it also formed Kumpulan Pakar Lift (KPL) (English: "Lift Expert's Assembly") with the intention to provide recommendations to government boards should a partnership with consultants and/or architects in regards with technical issues relates with planning of elevators and escalators are requested. KPL was led by Ir. Sarwono Kusasi, the head director of Citas Engineering.

In 1989, Ir. Sarwono Kusasi, the head director of Citas Engineering (Otis's distributor in Indonesia) said the fastest elevators ever installed in Indonesia at that time were at Grha BNI I in Jakarta, with a speed of 360 m/min.

## 1990s

*This section requires expansion.*

By 1994, Indonesia had around 600 units of elevators and escalators installed per year.

It is believed that the first destination dispatch elevator system in Indonesia was installed in 1992 by Schindler, in either Menara Mulia or Graha Aktiva in Jakarta. The elevator system is a Schindler "Miconic 10".

## Notes and references

1. ↑ 1,0 1,1 "Bea Masuk Menjadi Kendala" - KONSTRUKSI Magazine, April 1994 (PDF available in Indonesian, refer to first page)
2. ↑ "Sistem "Sky Lobby" mengoptimalkan pemakaian lift" - KONSTRUKSI Magazine, October 1989 (PDF available in Indonesian)