Installation at the Duke of Edinburgh Hotel - Members News - Blogs

Installation at the Duke of Edinburgh Hotel

Posted by ECA Lifts on 22nd February 2011.

Enhancing access to listed and historic buildings has always been a problem, taking into account the special character that makes such building’s unique. Enabling access for disabled people and conserving the special character of a building may require a fine balancing act which requires careful thought and application.

Such was the conundrum facing the owners of the renowned and listed Duke of Edinburgh Hotel in Barrow.

The hotel which was being transformed into four star luxury accommodation, is a wonderful example of Gothic Revival architecture. At its heart lies a beautiful staircase rising through several floors beneath a coved lantern ceiling.

The staircase is at the heart of the hotel and is enhanced with decorative panelling, carved newel posts and quatrefoil detailing. Walking up the staircase gives an aspirational feel to the experience of staying at the hotel, especially as the staircase details are articulated with turned balusters, linked by pierced panels under a moulded hand rail.

The proposed transformation of the hotel required access for those unable to use the magnificent stairway.

Fortunately, the hotel enlisted ecalifts to help resolve the conundrum.

Ecalifts have a wealth of experience when dealing with access in historic buildings. We understand the need to respect the special nature of our heritage and also have a considered and sympathetic process of evaluating the impact and nature of our installations.

Assessing the significance of a building (and mitigating the impact of our activities and solutions upon such significance) makes the whole design and installation process much smoother and cost effective. Such knowledge and experience helps liaison with Planners, Conservation Officers and applications for Listed Building Consent more productive and successful.

After careful appraisal of the situation at the Duke of Edinburgh Hotel, ecalifts provided a radical solution for their access requirements.

Further to the appraisal, ecalifts established:

that there was an ‘honesty’ and ‘appropriateness’ in using the open stairwell space as this was it’s original and intended function.
there was a need to avoid a ‘pastiche’ interpretation of a lift because it would ‘compete’ with the beautiful staircase (as well as health and safety considerations)
using a transparent vertical lift in the existing open stairwell would allow those not able to use the stairs, to experience the special and historic nature of the staircase.
using a simple, functional and transparent lift would be in harmony with the ‘Gothic’ principles of the original building.

What was so satisfying about the Duke of Edinburgh project was that the installation of the lift actually enabled more people to experience the historic staircase from a unique viewpoint. Additionally, once the lift had been installed, the experience of walking up the stairs was enhanced by the transparency and reflectivity of the glass.

The real success of the scheme came about because the special character of the building was taken into account prior to evaluating the requirements for access. That, and the partnership build up between ecalifts, the client and the planning department.

Such careful consideration of every installation is at the core of ecalifts philosophy.

"eca lifts" believe in not only providing a solution to your access needs but in also providing the user with a positive experience together with building trust in the products and services which they offer. Aiming to deliver a quality service to our clients providing a bespoke solution to all access requirements, the company ultimately wants to provide the end user with the best experience possible in order to enable access to all areas.

Find ECA Lifts in the Heritage Register here

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