We are delighted to be able to share our involvement in the historic Lift Refurbishment of Elizabeth Tower (or ‘Big Ben’ to you and me!)
For the past 4 years, we have been working closely with Andover Lift company, Stannah, and have now officially completed the custom-designed lift refurbishment in Elizabeth Tower (Big Ben!) within The Palace of Westminster.
As you can imagine, it has been such an iconic project and the SVM Lift Team, led by John Newbold, are so privileged to have been involved in the restoration of such a well-known landmark.
The bespoke lift project forms part of the restoration works undertaken by the building contractor Sir Robert McAlpine (SRM) to preserve the historic environment of the 162-year-old tower.
Given the age of the building, and the obvious size limitations of the tower, the project involved complex problem-solving from all parties involved (which is why we had been selected with our engineering emphaiss and experience of similar, heritage, refurbishement projects, like the Old Admiralty Building in Whitehall.)
One of the major aims of the restoration was to help maintenance teams and clock-keepers have easier access to the 96-metre tower and provide an alternative to the current 334 steps (no mean feat for anyone, especially carrying equipment!) and we were able to provide a solution that ticked both boxes. As our close partner, Stannah explains:
“The unique passenger lift was designed in Andover and has been made to fit into an existing ventilation shaft. Clock-keepers and maintenance teams are able to view the main journey up and through the ventilation shaft through the glazed glass panels of the lift doors. In addition, the strengthened, hard-wearing walls and floors of the lift also enable it to be used as a goods lift for maintenance items.”
(Yes, what a view! We can confirm it is absolutely wonderful!)
Another iconic factor that we needed to consider was the BBC’s live recordings of Big Ben’s chimes. We needed to make sure that the lift drive machinery did not disrupt the recordings and the solution was found by locating the drive machinery away from the top of the lift shaft.
We then had to consider how can we ensure access into the much more confined space of the Belfry (that cannot be accessed by steps). Using all of our lift design and installation experience, together with Stannah’s manufacturing expertise, we were able to install a smaller, supplementary platform lift that covered this additional distance.
Throw a global pandemic into the mix and we can honestly say that this has quite been the ultimate ‘curve-ball’ project, but we couldn’t have loved it more!
Not only have we been able to meet the complex brief, we have exceeded expectations and ensured that future maintenance and improvements to our beloved Big Ben are so much easier to conduct and complete (and so much safer for the dedicated service teams to complete).
We’d love to take you all to show you our feat of engineering technology and those awesome views but as that’s sadly not possible here are a few photographs to share our iconic Big Ben experience with you. It’s not quite the same but it does give you a really good idea.
Established in 2004, SVM Associates pride ourselves on our industry expertise, persistent attention to detail, personable working style and unique approach to all aspects of building services, including; Lifts, Escalators and Facade Access, Mechanical Electrical and Public Health and Facilities Management.
For more information or to talk to one of our expert team, get in touch today.
