Passenger Lifts

Ever since they emerged as a play thing for the rich at the turn of the last century, lifts have revolutionised the way we live our lives and how we conceive our cities.  Our 21st century dream of vertical living, of towers and sky-scrapers which seem to get ever taller, has only been able to become a reality because of the invention of passenger lifts; you couldn’t conceivable have a 100 storey (or indeed higher) building with only stairs for people to move up and down in- nobody would be wanting to rent the penthouse for a start!

Lifts are now common place in our blocks of flats, in our businesses and in our places of leisure and they have become such a permanent fixture in our lives that often we take them for granted, or at the very least we don’t stop to think about just how fascinating and marvellous they really are.

If you have a business, or indeed a home with the right type of structure to support a lift, then you should really consider a lift; not only do they help you comply with disabled access laws and encourage more customers or visitors but they can bring a real touch of aesthetic class to where they are placed particularly if they are in the glass lift form.

Harrods was the first department store to get a passenger lift installed and, since then, they have grown phenomenally to the point where it would be strange, even illegal, for a shopping centre or store to not contain a lift if passengers are expected to traverse between floors. They used to be able to carry one or two people, and also use to come with an assistant who would help people traverse between the floors; the progression of technology means that this is now a thing of the past and a series of buttons on a control panel, often narrated by a robotic voice, are now how we guide our way between the floors of our chosen building. We really cannot imagine our life anymore without lifts.

Most lifts work on a hydraulic system, a concept which is explained in the articles which follow this introduction- so if you are a technical person or simply want to know more, you should certainly should read on and all will be revealed as to how lifts actually work. It’ s not just technical people who have been interested in lifts though- they have been the setting for many social experiments.

Many people are fascinated by how people interact with each other in lifts, whether or not they speak to each other and what sort of things are spoken about- the idea of complete strangers cramped in together sharing nothing but a common destination is something which has appealed to sociologists and psychologists for many years and there are many fascinating studies which you should take the time to read if you have a bit of spare time- perhaps whilst your new lift is being fitted you can kick back and relax with a couple of the case studies!

Passenger lifts are constantly being re-invented; glass ones are very vogue and of the moment at the minute as they bring a little extra special something to the places where they are housed- they do require a slightly different structure to be built for them- as they need to look out on views rather than the inside of a lift shaft, but advances in engineering mean that what was once a children’s fantasy is now a reality.

Also, as skyscrapers begin to push closer and closer to the sky, lifts are having to be made faster and larger and higher-reaching than ever before to accommodate such new buildings- whereas before they may have been a convenient novelty- they have become a necessity which very few of us would be able to live without.

Read the articles which we have collected for you on passenger lifts over the next few pages and this should hopefully help you decide whether or not a passenger lift is right for you and your business.

Making the decision to get a lift is certainly not a cheap one but it will be well worth the money as they really will ultimately pay for themselves with the extra trade and custom they bring in as well as the increase in efficiency and productivity. 

We hope you enjoy these articles and that they help you reach the destination of your final decision quickly and smoothly.

To find a passenger lift company near you click here, or use our information guide below.

Passenger Lifts Information Guide: