Passenger lifts have always been more than a mode of transport.

Thanks to US cinema they’ve been lodged in our imaginations, and therefore our dreams, for decades. Which is one of the reasons why how they look has always been as important as how they work. The goods lift just doesn’t have the same allure, nor does the platform lift, until recently.

Platform lifts are popular because they solve a problem with elegance and flexibility. For people with impaired mobility, the platform lift has provided access to shops, workplaces, museums and their own homes. Its function has often overridden the way it looks, because it does its job so well. But now, with more and more vertical platform lifts being installed in people’s homes, the aesthetics are gaining in importance.

Do you require a Glass Platform Lift? Call the Tower Lifts team today on 01525 601099

Tower Lifts Install Glass Platform Lifts

For nearly two decades now, Tower Lifts designers have been creating platform lifts for residential installation. One of the most important elements of this work is talking through the way the lift will look. Many of our clients are nervous about the way a platform lift will change the ‘feel’ of their home. Knowing that they can control the way it looks is a positive way of coming to terms with the change.

Many residential clients like the idea of seamlessly integrating their platform lift into their home décor. As the residential lift market has matured, however, the range of materials and finishes has grown. Clients are now more daring with their choice of décor and requests for glass platform lifts are now becoming more commonplace.

Why Choose a Glass Platform Lift?

First and foremost, the increased demand for glass lifts demonstrates that a home platform lift is now something to celebrate and enjoy. Home décor is also changing to a more open plan style, providing more design options for residential lifts. Beyond that, though, there’s a range of benefits to opting for a glass platform lift:

• Glass Blends With Your Decor. Whatever the style of your home’s interior, glass will integrate with it beautifully. A glass lift is stylish and elegant, wherever it’s installed.
• A Glass Lift Enhances Natural Light. A platform lift made of glass will maximise the light in your home.
• Expanding Dimensions. Home lifts tend to be quite small, and some passengers worry about feeling claustrophobic. Glass walls expand the sense of space available.
• A Focus on Style. The glass lift can’t help but look contemporary and stylish. Having a lift which visitors find attractive and desirable is important for many of our clients.

Bespoke Platform Lifts From Tower Lifts

No matter how well one of our platform lifts functions, it has to look and feel right for our clients, too. That’s why we design bespoke platform lifts to fit the environment they’ll be operating in. Our experienced designers will take time to find out what kind of materials and finish will work best, and provide expert guidance on the range of options available. At Tower Lifts we’re passionate about creating lifts that look stunning and perform perfectly.

Have you thought about installing a glass platform lift in your home? Tower Lifts designers can offer installation options and guidance. Call us on 01525 601099

Tower Lifts carry out design and installation on 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 Lift

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It’s a point of pride for the UK that the vast majority of national museums offer free entry for their visitors. This popular move which came into effect in 2001, saw a massive rise in visitor numbers. On average visits increased by 70%, with some London museums seeing growth of a massive 111%. This demonstrated the huge national appetite for museums, and sustained investment now goes into creating entertaining, educative and accessible spaces across the country.

Do you require a Platform Lift? Call the Tower Lifts lift team today on 01525 601099 for more information.

Tower Lifts Designs Bespoke Platform Lifts

For nearly two decades now, the Tower Lifts design team has been using platform lift technology to enhance access in public spaces. The museum sector needs no encouragement when it comes to providing a range of vertical transport for their visitors. They tend to be alert to the needs of wheelchair users, families with pushchairs, and people with limited mobility. We’re able to offer a range of platform lift solutions in response:

• Integrated Platform Lift – this elegant mechanism is seamlessly integrated into its surroundings until activated. It then transforms into a platform capable of transporting a wheelchair from the bottom of a short flight of stairs to the top.
• Vertical Platform Lifts – the modular structure of the vertical platform lift is ideal for transporting passengers with limited mobility. The design flexibility and ease of installation makes this an ideal solution for ‘hard to access’ areas of the museum.
• Inclined Platform Lift – If there’s a staircase to traverse, the inclined platform lift offers stylish vertical transport for passengers with limited mobility. It can be tailored to pretty much any set of stairs, we’ve even created on for a spiral staircase!

Goods Lifts for Museums

We tend to associate access with people but, of course, museums also move goods which are often irregular shapes and sizes. The Tower Lifts team always relish the challenge to create a bespoke goods lift, where the weight and size of the goods determine the design. This can lead to doors that are taller than normal, or a huge cabin. Where this is the case we stress test the lift exhaustively to ensure the design is both durable, and fit for purpose.

Regular Maintenance for Museum Lifts

Any lift providing daily access to public facilities will experience higher than normal degrees of wear and tear. All Tower Lifts installations are durable, and have the capacity to sustain heavy usage. For ongoing reliability and safety, however, regular scheduled maintenance and servicing is key. We create tailored maintenance contracts for all our clients, and one of our criteria is the predicted volume of passengers the lift will carry each day.

Emergency Repair and Breakdown

Maintenance is a preventative measure which minimises the risk of lift breakdown. Should one occur, however, museums need to know that they have a support team who will prioritise their problem. Tower Lifts provides 24/7 emergency response. Our team of skilled engineers is trained in working with the public in lift breakdown situations. And they will make repairs wherever possible, in order to expedite a swift return to normal service.

Tower Lifts design bespoke platform lifts for museums. Call our design specialists today to find out more about our passenger and goods lift installations – 01525 601099

Tower Lifts carry out design and installation on 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 Lift

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Tower Lifts has seen major growth in the number of wheelchair lifts we’ve designed and installed over the past two decades. This is great news as it demonstrates that access for people with impaired mobility is now a priority for building managers. Taking a look at the clients we’ve worked with on inclusive access, they range from retailers, to hotel chains, to residential homes and the leisure and heritage sector.

All our platform lifts are bespoke, but one area of design we’ve particularly enjoyed working on is the invisible wheelchair lift. This is most often requested for heritage sites, or galleries featuring distinct interior design. The ‘invisible’ lift blends with an existing interior, or exterior. Once activated, however, the elegant mechanism transforms stairs into an integrated lift for access.

Do you require an Invisible Wheelchair Lift? Call the Tower Lifts lift team today on 01525 601099 for more information.

The Integrated Platform Lift

The hidden lift mechanism can rise through 3 metres, and carry up to 350kg. The design ensures that it will work in extreme temperatures (between -40ºC and 50ºC), which makes installation equally possible inside or outside. Once activated, safety barriers emerge around the horizontal floor panel, creating a platform which is then raised from the bottom level to the top level of the steps.

Case Study – An Integrated Platform Lift for Trinity College Dublin

Trinity College in Dublin asked the Tower Lifts design team to come up with an external integrated lift for one of their historic 16th century cobbled courtyards. The lift was required to provide vertical transport for wheelchair users up a short flight of stone steps. It was important to our client that the lift was invisible until activated for use.

Key to this particular design project was the integration of the lift with its historic surroundings. This meant blending the cobbled design of the ‘platform’ with the ancient stones around it. The lift is accessed using button controls, and is completely weatherproof, ensuring that it operates effectively whatever the Irish weather.

Case Study – Integrated Platform at Barbican Centre, London

The Barbican is one of Europe’s largest performing arts centres, providing a blend of art, theatre, film and music. They asked us to create an integrated platform lift in their renowned art gallery. As the environment is often used for art installations, it was important that we designed an invisible wheelchair lift that provided access, without changing the gallery aesthetic.

An Adaptable, Innovative Platform Lift

No two heritage sites are the same, which is why they’re so important to us. The integrated platform lift is unique in its ability to camouflage itself, whatever the environment. Over the years we’ve created lifts that imitate grass, paving, and interior tiling. Our clients have also been quick to recognise the multifunctional potential of the integrated platform lift; it can also be used to shift heavy equipment, art exhibits or furniture between one level and another.

Tower Lifts are Leading Providers of Bespoke Platform Lifts

The platform lift is our most adaptable and affordable lift design, making it the perfect solution for wheelchair access whatever the environment. Our designers thoroughly enjoy the challenge of creating lift access, even in the most unpromising of surroundings. The resulting lifts deliver both on high quality function, and on the seamless integration of the finish, within their operating environment.

Invisible wheelchair lifts blend with their environment until activated, at which point they provide elegant vertical transport for users.

Tower Lifts carry out design and installation on 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 Lift

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There’s still a good way to go before the UK achieves full equality for everyone, but we have made huge strides, as a society, over the past 20 years. This is largely due to the Disability Discrimination Act which was passed in in 1995, and then superseded by the Equality Act which passed into law in 2010.

Access Prior to DDA

Prior to the DDA, millions of people with impaired mobility would daily struggle to access public transport, multi-storey buildings, or educational centres. The impact of this was a huge loss to business and retail, not to mention the stress caused to people who had to fight to participate in every area of society.

Call us today on 01525 601099 for more information on our DDA compliant lift design and installation services.

What Difference Did DDA Make?

A key date for the lift installation sector is the 1995 DDA statement requiring that all building owners make reasonable adequate provision for disabled access. The requirement was amended to a ‘duty’ in 2005, and in 2007 the Commission for Equality and Human Rights made a further amendment. They strengthened the wording of the Act by requiring that all buildings open to the public ensured equal access to all services.

The DDA Drives Lift Innovation

Large-scale social change takes a long time to filter into every aspect of our lives, but by 2007 building owners were beginning to embrace the idea of ‘inclusive buildings’. This translated into a massive spike in demand for DDA compliant lifts. In response, the lift industry began to develop an innovative range of vertical transport that fulfilled a new set of criteria:

• Installation in buildings without a lift shaft.
• Affordable for every kind of public building.
• Flexible use on public transport, split level flooring, and short flights of stairs.
• Available to wheelchair users.

Platform Lift Installations

The platform lift has been developed solely to provide affordable vertical transport for any environment. They are now available in a range of different sizes.  They can be big enough to carry two wheelchair users through 2 or more floors using an enclosed shaft.

Platform lifts are also used to carry people up stairways, over split level flooring, or onto public transport. The stepless platform lift can be used to travel up a small flight of stairs. Most important, platform lifts are adaptable, good looking,  and can be used indoors or out.

Tower Lifts Installs Bespoke Platform Lifts

For over a decade now, Tower Lifts has lead the design and installation of bespoke DDA compliant lifts. Whilst the majority of those are platform lifts, we also provide DDA compliant passenger lifts such as our Fairlop Waters installation. This sports facility in Redbridge, Essex used a Sports England award to ensure equal access for all local residents to their ‘Activation’ campaign.

When installing a DDA compliant lift there are a range of features we can include to improve the access potential for everyone wishing to using facility. These include:

• Handrails.
• Easy to use, brightly lit controls.
• A clear approach to the lift.
• Clear and easy-to-see signage.
• Good quality lighting.
• Stopping accuracy.

Tower Lifts are Leaders in Passenger Safety

Our lift design and installation team are highly skilled engineers with years of experience in vertical transport. Passenger safety drives every decision we make, and is the goal of each and every installation. Beyond that, we create elegant vertical transport solutions that provide every passenger with the same quality of experience, and level of access to buildings and services.

Tower Lifts installers also provide a range of lift services 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

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For over a hundred years now, lifts have been key to the efficient movement of people around buildings with more than two floors, or with split level flooring. In commercial buildings it is now a legal requirement that adequate provision is made for people with impaired vision or mobility, and in most cases this comes down to the installation of either a passenger or a platform lift.

What is the Difference Between a Passenger and a Platform Lift?

Passenger lifts are an excellent solution for buildings expecting heavy lift usage, due to the lift being the only way to move between floors. A typical passenger lift will carry between 3-33 people and will travel at speeds faster that 0.15m/s. This type of elevator installation requires either a legacy lift shaft, or the excavation of a new lift pit and shaft.

Platform lifts do not require a lift shaft, but they are designed to carry fewer people than the passenger lift – typically 1-5 users. The platform lift travels at speeds of 0.15m/s or less and are ideal for buildings where stairs are the normal way to access split level flooring or multiple floors. This kind of lift is normally used primarily to enhance disable access.

For any platform lift service, contact our team today on 01525 601099.

What Kind of Platform Lift?

Tower Lifts provide bespoke lift installations for commercial and domestic premises across the retail, leisure, hospitality, domestic and heritage sectors. We have learnt, over the years, that no two installations will be the same, but there are a range of platform lift models that we use as our building blocks to create a unique solution:

Enclosed Vertical Platform Lifts – these lifts operate in a similar way to a passenger lift, serving up to five floors. The system installation can be either electric or hydraulic, and it utilises state-of-the-art technology for optimum performance and an excellent user experience.

Step Lift – where access is required across split level flooring, or up a short flight of steps, this open platform lift is ideal for wheelchair use. The installation can be designed to merge with the operating environment aesthetic, and the controls are DDA compliant.

Inclined Platform Lifts – if you have a straight, curved or even spiral staircase we can provide access using the inclined platform lift. These are manufactured to the highest standards, coming complete with anodised aluminium rails, airtight wiring and a special painted finish.

A Bespoke Platform Lift Solution

Whatever your platform lift requirement, the Tower Lifts design and installation team will work closely with you to determine your requirements and find the very best solution for your needs. Every single one of our lift engineers bring expertise as an installer and has years’ of experience creating bespoke platform lift installations to put at your service.

Tower Lifts carry out design and installation on 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

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