- Title: UK-STAR TREK ELEVATOR Star Trek-style home elevator could replace stairlifts
- Date: 3rd August 2015
- Summary: HERTFORDSHIRE, ENGLAND, UK (JULY 21, 2015) (REUTERS) WIDE OF LIFESTYLE LIFT OWNER SALLY KAPADIA ENTERING ELEVATOR IN BEDROOM / ELEVATOR STARTS TO DESCEND ELEVATOR COMING THROUGH CEILING IN LIVING ROOM SALLY IN ELEVATOR AS IT GOES THROUGH BEDROOM FLOOR VIEW FROM INSIDE ELEVATOR AS IT DESCENDS CLOSE OF SALLY IN ELEVATOR VIEW FROM INSIDE ELEVATOR OF LIVING ROOM WHILE DESCENDING CLOSE OF BASE OF ELEVATOR REACHING FLOOR / SALLY GETTING OUT WIDE OF SALLY EXITING ELEVATOR (SOUNDBITE) (English) SALLY KAPADIA, LIFESTYLE LIFT OWNER, SITTING NEXT TO HUSBAND BEHRAM, SAYING: "Well, we've lived in this house for 40 years and I have problems with my knees and muscles, and the stairs in this house are very, very step and very narrow. So we needed to find either a bungalow or some means of getting me upstairs." WIDE OF SALLY AND BEHRAM'S BEDROOM / PAN TO ELEVATOR IN CORNER VARIOUS OF SALLY AND BEHRAM SITTING ON SOFA (SOUNDBITE) (English) SALLY KAPADIA, LIFESTYLE LIFT OWNER, SITTING NEXT TO HUSBAND BEHRAM, SAYING: "We can stay here now for the foreseeable future, which is good. It's just given us the old life back that we had before as opposed to moving in to something smaller which might not have (BEHRAM SAYS: "Suited us") met our needs quite so well." CHESHIRE, ENGLAND, UK (JULY 10, 2015) (REUTERS) WIDE OF JOHN MCSWEENEY, MARKETING AND EXPORT DIRECTOR OF TERRY LIFTS, DESCENDING IN DEMO ELEVATOR IN SHOWROOM CLOSE OF MCSWEENEY IN ELEVATOR CLOSE OF BASE OF ELEVATOR REACHING THE GROUND MCSWEENEY EXITING THE ELEVATOR (SOUNDBITE) (English) JOHN MCSWEENEY, MARKETING AND EXPORT DIRECTOR OF TERRY LIFTS, SAYING: "You could describe it as a high-end chair lift. People don't want, in many cases, a chair-lift on their beautiful staircase and they don't necessarily want a lift; it's about looking at the lift for the long-term future proofing the property. And unlike a stairlift, which is a permanent feature on your staircase, the lift can be sent away when you don't need it - so it's never the elephant in the room." CLOSE OF MCSWEENEY PRESSING 'UP' BUTTON IN ELEVATOR WIDE OF FLOOR IN UPPER ROOM AS ELEVATOR COMES THROUGH CLOSE OF MCSWEENEY IN ELEVATOR ASCENDING (SOUNDBITE) (English) JOHN MCSWEENEY, MARKETING AND EXPORT DIRECTOR OF TERRY LIFTS, SAYING: "If a pet or child was playing underneath the lift, you've got a safety bottom with micro-switches all over that safety bottom. So as soon as it comes in contact with any obstruction, it will immediately stop. And you have about 20 millimetres of pinch-point - so there's no mild crushing at all, it is very, very sensitive." CLOSE OF MCSWEENEY'S HAND SHOWING BOTTOM OF ELEVATOR CLOSE OF MCSWEENEY'S FOOT UNDER ELEVATOR AS IT DESCENDS / ELEVATOR STOPS WIDE OF MCSWEENEY ON ELEVATOR FACTORY FLOOR WITH LIFESTYLE LIFT UNDER CONSTRUCTION CLOSE OF HANDS ON ELEVATOR FRAME CLOSE OF MCSWEENEY TALKING / NEWSPAPER ARTICLE ABOUT ELEVATORS IN BACKGROUND CLOSE OF NEWSPAPER ARTICLE ABOUT ELEVATORS CLOSE PAN OF TEXT ON NEWSPAPER READING (English): "BEAM ME UP (STAIRS) DARLING..." (SOUNDBITE) (English) JOHN MCSWEENEY, MARKETING AND EXPORT DIRECTOR OF TERRY LIFTS, SAYING: "A lot of people that have come round to various exhibitions that we've been at in the UK, quite often they would say it looks more like a shower cubicle. That is the first reaction. The second reaction is the pod's design does look like the, you know, 'Beam me up, Scotty' - Star Trek - you know you go in, there's two people at a time maximum, usually one, and then off it disappears." HERTFORDSHIRE, ENGLAND, UK (JULY 21, 2015) (REUTERS) (SOUNDBITE) (English) SALLY AND BEHRAM KAPADIA, LIFESTYLE LIFT OWNERS, SAYING: BEHRAM SAYS: "Well, all the neighbours think it looks like a TARDIS." (LAUGHTER) SALLY SAYS: "We love it. The fact that it disappears upstairs; if we have a family gathering we extend this table and take up all the space, and it's out of the way. At night-time it comes down and it's out of the bedroom." WIDE OF ELEVATOR IN LIVING ROOM / SALLY APPROACHES IT CLOSE OF SALLY'S HAND OPENING ELEVATOR DOOR WIDE OF SALLY GETTING IN ELEVATOR CLOSE OF SALLY PRESSING 'UP' BUTTON WIDE OF ELEVATOR ASCENDING THROUGH CEILING WIDE OF ELEVATOR COMING THROUGH FLOOR OF BEDROOM CLOSE OF SALLY IN ELEVATOR AS IT ASCENDS WIDE OF SALLY IN ELEVATOR CLOSE OF BASE OF ELEVATOR / SALLY EXITING
- Embargoed: 18th August 2015 13:00
- Keywords:
- Topics: General
- Reuters ID: LVAE9Q94MBO0JFVIF6FRARCUSCKA
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: For people living in a house with more than one storey, stairlifts or home elevators are often a necessity of life as they get older and find it harder to get up and down the stairs. Normal stairlifts have the disadvantage of being a permanent and visible addition to a staircase, while traditional home elevators are bulky and often impractical for most homes.
A company in England is hoping their novel design will fill the gap in the market for a new kind of home elevator. Terry Lifts, based in Cheshire, have built a futuristic-looking elevator that can fit neatly into the corner of a room and ascends through a hole in the ceiling with no lift shaft required.
"You could describe it as a high-end chair lift. People don't want, in many cases, a chair-lift on their beautiful staircase and they don't necessarily want a lift; it's about looking at the lift for the long-term future proofing the property. And unlike a stairlift which is a permanent feature on your staircase, the lift can be sent away when you don't need it - so it's never the elephant in the room," said John McSweeney from Terry Lifts told Reuters.
Sally and Behram from Hertfordshire, north of London, were already in the process of packing up and moving from their two-storey house after Sally's knee problems made using the stairs difficult; especially when trying to carry items up to the top floor. They had considered a stairlift but that option proved impossible for their home.
"We've lived in this house for 40 years and I have problems with my knees and muscles, and the stairs in this house are very, very step and very narrow. So we needed to find either a bungalow or some means of getting me upstairs," said Sally.
It wasn't until they visited a new homes exhibition while in the process of looking for a new place to live that they came across the Terry Lifestyle Lift. The couple said they realised almost instantly that it was the answer to their problems.
Terry Lifts says a complete installation will take 4 to 5 days, including all building and electrical preparation work. And while the elevator doesn't come cheaply, for Sally and Behram it's allowed them to remain in their home indefinitely.
"We can stay here now for the foreseeable future," said Sally. "It's just given us the old life back that we had before as opposed to moving in to something smaller which might not have met our needs quite so well."
The Lifestyle Lift has a battery backup that will steadily return the user to the ground floor if there is a power cut. It also has an EU standard 30-minute fire protection feature between the floors, whether the elevator is parked upstairs or downstairs.
Its pressure sensitive bottom panel and safety edges gently stop the lift if an obstruction is detected either above or below.
"If a pet or child was playing underneath the lift, you've got a safety bottom with micro-switches all over that safety bottom. So as soon as it comes in contact with any obstruction, it will immediately stop. And you have about 20 millimetres of pinch-point - so there's no mild crushing at all, it is very, very sensitive," said McSweeney while he demonstrated the safety feature by placing his foot under the descending lift.
Terry Lifts says it's their unique design coupled with industry-leading safety certification that is generating a lot of world-wide interest in the product. However, one unexpected response to the Lifestyle Lift has been the comparison to the pod-like elevators featured in the Star Trek TV series.
"A lot of people that have come round to various exhibitions that we've been at in the UK, quite often they would say it looks more like a shower cubicle. That is the first reaction. The second reaction is the pod's design does look like the, you know, "Beam me up, Scotty" - Star Trek - you know you go in, there's two people at a time maximum, usually one, and then off it disappears," McSweeney said.
And the science-fiction comparisons haven't ended there: "Well, all the neighbours think it looks like a TARDIS," said Behram, referring to the time-travelling craft from Doctor Who.
Sally added that the elevator can be banished from a room when the extra space is needed.
"We love it. The fact that it disappears upstairs; if we have a family gathering we extend this table and take up all the space, and it's out of the way. At night-time it comes down and it's out of the bedroom," she said.
The company has exported at least 200 lifts from the UK to countries including France, China and Australia. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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