Retrofitting Lifts in Listed Buildings

Retrofitting Lifts in Listed Buildings

Sensitive Lift Solutions for Heritage Properties

Every listed building has a unique story to tell. The challenge is to welcome more people to enjoy it without losing the character that makes a property so special. Retrofitting lifts in listed buildings is a modern solution that has to be approached with sensitivity and expertise. It’s about compliance certainly, but more than that, it’s about creating an inclusive space where accessibility enhances, rather than detracts from, your heritage property.

At Tower Lifts, we’ve successfully navigated the challenges of lift installation in historic buildings across the UK. We work alongside you, combining our knowledge of regulatory requirements with a clear understanding of a building’s architectural integrity. Our experience means we can provide the perfect solution that respects your property’s past as we prepare it for the future.

Why Add a Lift? Understanding the Need and the Challenge

Most of our conversations about retrofitting lifts in historic buildings start with the word ‘access’. It’s about the desire to open up an historic space to everyone, whether that’s for legal compliance with the Equality Act 2010 or simply to be more inclusive. So that a visitor in a wheelchair, a parent with a pushchair, or a staff member with mobility issues can experience the building as completely as anyone else.

While the starting point may be simple, however, achieving it is rarely straightforward. Heritage properties simply weren’t designed for modern lift shafts. Which means finding a suitable location within a narrow Georgian townhouse or needing to work around the delicate original plasterwork of a Victorian hall.

Every project is a conversation with the original architecture, whether it’s centuries-old timber beams requiring structural consideration, or a wall that looks like solid stone but is actually a delicate mix of flint and rubble. The aim is to make the new addition feel so authentic, it’s as if it was always meant to be there.

Why Add a Lift? Understanding the Need and the Challenge

The Invisible Lift – Sympathetic Design in a Grade 1 Listed Home

Our Work in Action: A Modern Successor for a Historic Lift

How do you respectfully replace a piece of a building’s history? This was the question at the heart of our project at a Grade 1 listed residence in Regent’s Park. The property’s original lift was an historic artefact, but it was time for an upgrade. Our goal was not to erase the past, but to create a worthy successor—a modern lift that continued the story.

Working with the heritage architect, we designed a bespoke passenger lift to be the modern equivalent of the original. It had to be carefully engineered to fit into the existing shaft, ensuring a total transition. The result is a lift that respects the aesthetic spirit of its predecessor while providing the safety, reliability, and accessibility expected today. It’s an evolution, ensuring the building is fit for the future.

The Sensitive Solution – Benefits of a Platform Lift

For custodians of listed buildings, the primary benefit of the platform lift is the gentle touch it affords. Because they don’t require a deep pit or a large machine room, the installation is far less invasive than with a conventional passenger lift, so the historic fabric is preserved to a greater degree.

This flexibility allows us to choose the best type of lift for your needs. We can install a simple, open platform lift to navigate a few steps, preserving the sense of an open entrance hall. Where space is tight, but the journey is between floors, an enclosed platform lift provides a quiet and reassuringly comfortable ride. In the most sensitive spaces, an inclined lift can follow an existing staircase, leaving the building’s structure almost entirely untouched.

Aftercare – A Lifetime of Specialist Attention for Your Lift

Your relationship with us doesn’t end once your lift is installed. In fact, that’s just the beginning of our continued commitment to you. The ongoing maintenance of any lift is as important as the installation, and choosing a UK-based provider makes sourcing parts and arranging callouts far simpler. We believe in taking that one step further.

When the team that designed, built, and installed your bespoke lift is the same team that maintains it, you get a continuity of care. We know its history, its unique components, and exactly how it integrates with your building. It’s like having the original architect on hand to look after their creation—nobody is better placed to give it the maintenance it needs to perform flawlessly for decades to come.

Uncompromising on Quality and Safety

In a heritage setting, there is no room for compromise. That’s why quality and safety are at the absolute core of everything we do at Tower Lifts. Our ISO 9001:2015 certified quality system ensures a flawlessly managed project. On-site, it means a safe environment for everyone, as we work to the rigorous health and safety standards of ISO 45001. Furthermore, as members of LEIA and a Constructionline approved supplier, you can be confident you’re choosing a fully vetted, professional partner from day one.

Let’s build a safe and accessible future for your historic building. Speak to an expert at Tower Lifts today.

Tower Lifts London lift team can design and install a varied range of lifts throughout the UK including:

Domestic Lifts • Food Lifts • Bespoke Platform Lifts • Service Lifts • Platform Lifts • Goods Lifts • Scenic Lifts • Heavy Duty / Car Lifts • Passenger Lifts • Dumbwaiter Lifts • MRL Lifts • Fire lifts • Residential Lifts • low-Headroom Lifts