Chichester School Gets Accessibility Lift From MovemanSKG

Online, January 4, 2012 (Newswire.com) - A Hove and Brighton-based architectural practice, working in partnership with specialist lift supplier movemanSKG, has supplied a Prestige platform lift in St. Richard's Catholic Primary School in Chichester. It enables less able pupils to access classrooms on the first floor. The clients are the Governors of the School.

The school's two-stop Prestige travels over three metres and resides in a newly formed enclosure at the rear of an existing staircase. Felce & Guy, a flexible, professional and caring architects practice specialising in residential, educational and recreational building projects, had to overcome challenges to build the new shaft.

Jane Gray, Partner at Felce & Guy, explains: "We had limited space in which to accommodate the Prestige platform lift. We constructed a new two storey extension to the existing stair well and installed the new lift within a recess formed between the original building and the extension.

"The school specified a lift, which had room for a wheelchair user plus a carer, so the Prestige was ideal. Out of three tenders for the project, movemanSKG provided the best quote. It met all our requirements, offering a superb product at excellent value for money. It had the benefit of being free standing therefore not requiring an actual lift shaft and it only requires a shallow lift pit thus avoiding the need to underpin the foundations of the existing building which was essential. Also the headroom could be accommodated within the relatively low ceiling height of the extension. We had a fixed budget so affordability was extremely important. In addition, movemanSKG is part of Otis and has an excellent reputation. It was an ideal solution."

movemanSKG delivered Prestige on time and worked around other contractors to install it in just four days. It runs smoothly and has a variety of safety features, including doors that lock automatically when the platform is in motion to stop people entering the shaft. Safety is essential in schools, where electronic devices fascinate young children. It also has an emergency hands free autodialler that links to the school reception.

With experience ranging from domestic alterations and extensions to large commercial buildings, Felce & Guy is able to respond quickly and creatively to a wide range of design challenges.
As noted above its work sectors include education, house extensions and alterations, healthcare, school and higher education projects, leisure buildings including shops, hotels, restaurants, cricket and golf clubs. In addition, the company is an expert in designing for people with special needs, and has wide experience in renovations works, as well as extensive skills in working with religious buildings. It is this wide range of combined skills that means Felce & Guy respond with innovative and thoroughly thought out architectural solutions and within the timescales required.