The Accessibility Issues Older Commercial Buildings Can No Longer Ignore
Many older commercial buildings were designed when accessibility received far less consideration than it does today.
Steps at entrances, changes in floor level and upper floors reached only by stairs are still common. In some properties, alterations made over many years have created additional level changes that were never part of the original layout.
Improving access within these buildings is not always straightforward. Existing walls, staircases, floor structures and limited available space can all affect what is practical.
The starting point should be understanding how people need to move through the building and where the existing barriers occur.
Accessibility Does Not Stop at the Entrance
Providing a level or ramped entrance can solve one problem without addressing the rest of the building.
Once inside, visitors, employees or residents may still need to reach reception areas, offices, meeting rooms, toilets or other facilities on different levels.
Even relatively small changes in floor height can become significant where steps are the only means of access.
Looking at the complete route through the property helps identify where access is restricted and prevents improvements being considered in isolation.
Small Changes in Level Can Create Difficult Problems
Not every accessibility problem involves travelling between several storeys.
Older buildings frequently contain split levels, raised entrances or short flights of steps between different areas of the same floor.
These situations can sometimes be more difficult to resolve than they initially appear. There may be insufficient space for a suitable ramp, while altering the existing floor structure could involve substantial building work.
If the building layout cannot address the level difference satisfactorily, a lifting solution may be considered.
The right approach depends on the height involved, available space, and how the route is expected to be used.
Existing Buildings Place Restrictions on Lift Installation
Installing accessibility equipment in an existing building is different from incorporating it into a new development.
In a new building, you can design space for a lift. Within an established property, the solution has to work around what is already there.
Staircases, structural walls, existing services, ceiling heights and circulation space can all affect where equipment can be positioned.
There also needs to be sufficient space for people to approach and leave the lift safely at each landing.
That is why selecting a lift based on dimensions alone is rarely enough. The surrounding building needs to be considered as part of the installation.
Platform Lifts Can Solve Particular Access Problems
Where conventional passenger lift installation is not practical or appropriate, platform lifts can overcome certain changes in level.
Different types of platform lifts suit different situations.
Vertical platform lifts move between levels vertically and can be used for short rises as well as travel between floors, depending on the equipment specified. Inclined platform lifts operate along a staircase and may be considered where the existing layout makes another form of lift difficult to accommodate.
Neither is automatically the correct answer simply because a building has an accessibility problem.
Travel distance, available space, intended users, frequency of use, and the property’s physical constraints all need to be assessed before deciding what type of equipment is suitable.
The Location of the Lift Matters
Finding enough physical space for a lift does not necessarily mean it is in the right place.
If reaching the lift requires somebody to use an awkward secondary route through the building, the installation may solve the change in level while creating another accessibility problem.
The position of entrances and exits, circulation routes and the facilities people need to reach should therefore be considered together.
In some buildings there may be several possible positions for a lift. Comparing how each option affects the wider route can be just as important as comparing the equipment itself.
Alternative Entrances Need Careful Consideration
Older properties sometimes have stepped principal entrances but level access elsewhere.
Using another entrance may form part of an accessibility strategy, but its suitability depends on where it leads and how it operates in practice.
A route through a service area, a locked entrance, or a remote part of a building may not provide the same practical access as the main entrance.
There may also be further level changes once inside.
Before assuming an alternative entrance resolves the problem, consider the full journey from outside the building to the facilities within it.
Staircases Present Their Own Constraints
Where access between floors is only available by stairs, the staircase itself can influence the options available.
An inclined platform lift may be possible on some stairways, but staircase width, landings, turns and the surrounding layout all need to be considered.
Equipment installed on a staircase also occupies space when in use and, depending on its design, when parked.
The effect on other people using the stairs therefore forms part of the assessment.
In other situations, a vertical platform lift positioned away from the staircase may provide a more practical route between levels. Again, the building determines what is possible.
Think About How the Equipment Will Actually Be Used
Select accessibility equipment for the people and building it is intended to serve.
A lift used occasionally in a small office operates under different conditions than equipment in a busy public building.
The number of journeys, travel required, building opening hours and likely users all affect the specification.
Practical questions also include how users enter and leave the platform, whether assistance is likely to be required, and what happens if the equipment becomes unavailable.
Considering these issues during planning is preferable to discovering them after installation.
Installation Is Only the Beginning
A lift introduced to improve accessibility becomes another piece of equipment that the building manager needs to look after.
It requires appropriate maintenance, and faults need to be addressed when they occur. Statutory examination requirements may also apply depending on the equipment and its use.
This matters particularly where people depend on the lift as their only practical way to reach part of the building.
An accessibility solution that spends significant periods out of service does not provide reliable access.
Maintenance arrangements and ongoing support should therefore be considered when selecting the equipment, rather than only after it has been installed.
Older Buildings May Need a Combination of Changes
No single piece of equipment always resolves every accessibility issue in an older property.
Improvement may involve changes to entrances, doors, circulation routes or internal layouts alongside the installation of a lift.
A building with several level changes may also require different solutions in different areas.
Looking at the property as a whole helps avoid spending money on an isolated improvement that still leaves important parts of the building difficult to reach.
Start With the Building, Not the Lift
The most effective accessibility improvements begin with an assessment of the building and how people need to use it.
Where are the existing barriers? Which areas need to be reached? How much space is available? What level changes need to be overcome? How frequently will the equipment be used?
Only once you’ve considered those questions does it make sense to decide what type of lift, if any, provides an appropriate solution.
Older commercial buildings inevitably present more constraints than new developments, but that does not mean access cannot be improved. It does mean that the solution needs to be planned around the property rather than expecting the property to accommodate a predetermined piece of equipment.
For building owners and managers, viewing accessibility this way can reveal problems that have existed for years but have never been considered as part of the building as a whole.
