Partial Glass? | KONE MonoSpace MRLs @ The University of Auckland (Building 302; West)

Building 302 is the main Science Centre at the University of Auckland. From what I researched, the university received funding in 2013 to expand & refurbish its campus buildings, and the construction of this new science building was of relatively high priority. It would finally open in 2017 following a couple of delays, but the lifts were definitely put in well before then (I have written ‘2013’ for convenience sake).
These are a set of 3 KONE EcoDiscs, although only 2 were working when I went - funnily enough, these were the ones I already found out the outside of from Google Maps, so this wasn’t as gutting as it otherwise would’ve been! It’s still a massive disappointment, though, especially as they had a space specifically cut out on the COP where a KDS 300 indicator could fit, but they went with generic LCD instead… (SPOILER: Expect a theme to this nature with the elevators I found at UoA.) Another deception is the fact that these elevators are allegedly glass…but the first car that I got was completely enclosed, and it wasn’t until I tried for the middle car that I found a tiny, thin window on the back wall. Would it seriously have killed them to at least make half of the back wall glass 😭 Nevertheless, the lifts are honestly pretty nice apart from that - the KDS 300-AUS buttons light up in blue, which is not common in new installs, and the lifts still very much run like EcoDiscs should, clocking in at a steady 2.00 m/s. I can’t fault the PXLS voice - I must admit, I do honestly kinda like the “Lift stopping” announcer, even when she sounds out of place like on these EcoDiscs.
Just like 405, we have a case where one elevator-in this case, Lift 302-3-has been assigned as the “Dangerous Goods” car and must be operated from the outside. Of course, the "dangerous goods" in this case appear to mainly be liquid nitrogen dewars (basically large bottle-esque tanks), and the controls outside look a bit different - only one ‘G’ button can be found, and I suspect it would just send the lift straight down to G for collection / drop-off. Additionally, this particular car even has a rear-door opening on some floors, although I was not even gonna bother trying them as I know they would be locked.
A lot of floors are locked in these elevators, most likely due to the Open Day and how open these elevators are (pun NOT intended). These are also some of the busiest elevators on campus, which I can’t be surprised about.
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Lift Number(s): 302-1 - 302-3
Manufacturer: KONE
Model: MonoSpace
Controller: LCE
Year: 2013 (?)
Fixtures: Blue KDS 300-AUS (buttons); Alphasoft (indicators)
Type: MRL(?) Traction [EcoDisc 3rd?-gen]
No. of elevators in set: 3
Floors served: B^, ★G, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5^, 6^, 7^, 8, 9, 10
Capacity: 26 persons / 2000 kg
Film date: 24/8/2024
^ = Has rear-door opening in Lift 302-3
Elevator rating: 79/100
DT rating: 2.5/100
Total: 76.5/100

[@elevatorsinnz]

Kinda reminds me of Spark Tower Main lifts on Willis Street

[@t3224.elevators_nz]

@@elevatorsinnz It does, a little bit! Although, at least the Spark Tower still has native Vander indicators outside…

[@elevatorsinnz]

@@t3224.elevators_nz Yeah not a Generic Indicator scam like UoA loves doing lol