When it comes to planning lifts in houses or tight spaces, this question frequently pops up!
Clients may have space on one side on the first floor, which then becomes a wall on the second floor. The ability to open doors on multiple sides is therefore essential in order to maximize space and customer satisfaction.
1. The Common Open Through Lift
Most people encounter this type of the lift for the first time in airports: a classic traction lift that you enter from one side and exit from the opposite side. It usually looks something like the lift on the right below:
While this lift is widely available from classic traction companies, it faces two huge problems:
– The additional door severely limits the indoor space, sometimes shaving off to 40% of the usable standing space
– The additional cost is considerable, with an extra door on the cabin.
In these cases, it is often better to opt for screw-driven lifts as the doors are integrated to the shaft and do not affect the standing space in any way, shape or form. Moreover, as these lifts are often platform lifts, there is no additional door which keeps the cost the same, no matter which side the door is on.
2. The Holy Grail: Right Angle Openings
While open-through doors are relatively common, right-angle openings are extremely rare. For conventional lifts, this kind of opening makes very little sense, as it would reduce the standing space to almost a quarter, while simultaneously leading to very complex and expensive shafts.
This door, opposite the machine, is often called the B-side door. For screw-driven lifts, these A/B or B/C openings are surprisingly common, and in fact a specialty of the industry for mezzanine type openings.
The picture above is a prime example, with two doors at a right angle and a limited travel height (~1.5 meters) but which allows unfettered access to all parts of the house while saving space on the overall lift.
3. A Unique Lift: Triple Doors by Cibes
This is the rare pearl, the gem that occurs once in a blue moon. But when it does, it is such a unique and distinctive lift that it immediately becomes a showcase and a centerpiece of the home.
Check out the ground floor of the lift above: one door on either side, and one feeding directly into the house.
This triple open is a lift of beauty, and one that is the specialty of Cibes Lift!
Have you ever needed a triple opening lift? Let us know in the comments!