Why cabin lifts are an ideal fit for educational buildings
Are you specifying a wheelchair lift for a school, college or university, for a refurbishment or new build? Introducing the cabin lift, one of the best disability access solutions for educational buildings.
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Image: Fulham Senior School.
Designing schools for the future, whether it is a new build or a refurbishment, should include an Access Audit. From this, an accessibility plan can be put in place to address how disabled pupils, students and visitors can safely access classrooms and use the facilities, whether they are wheelchair users or require other mobility assistance.
Improving accessibility
Typically, school buildings and collages are several storeys high so installing a lift is the obvious solution. However, a passenger lift is costly, which is why cabin lifts have become a popular choice as they can easily serve up to six floors with a maximum travel of 15 metres.
A cabin lift offers practically the same user experience as a passenger lift, with its sliding doors and one touch controls, but without the price tag. Installation requires minimal building work as the lifts come complete with a modular shaft which can be enclosed, fully or partially glazed. Alternatively, an existing lift shaft can also be used.
Pit and headroom
As well as quick and easy installation, another big advantage of a cabin lift over the conventional passenger lift is its small footprint, making it ideal where space is limited. It requires only a low pit of c120mm and headroom of just 2.5 metres.
Safety features
Cabin lifts are particularly well suited to schools, colleges and universities due to their safety features such as fire rated doors, key control and automatic doors. They also offer a sustainable solution - whether you choose a hydraulic or traction drive system, they are energy efficient and require minimal maintenance.
We recommend four routine maintenance visits a year and quarterly condition reports (our service packages)
Design of a Cabin Lift
Like a passenger lift, a cabin lift has internal walls which means it offers even more design flexibility than a vertical platform lift. Walls can be glazed, solid steel or clad in a variety of materials to achieve a particular finish or architectural look. The floor and ceiling of the cabin can also be made to specification and enhanced with mirrors or LED lighting. Our Cabin Lift product can be installed with either sliding or swing doors depending on the available space.
How much is a Cabin Lift?
A standard cabin lift starts at around £21K – expect to pay more for bespoke cabin lifts with extra features and luxury finishes. This is still much cheaper than a passenger lift. We recommend using a fully qualified platform lift engineer to install a cabin lift, who has been fully trained on the product.
