71 Fenchurch Street 

The objective of this project was to modernise 8 scenic passenger lifts designed by Richard Rogers architect, the issue presented top us from the client was that the lifts since installation have been problematic in terms of reliability and water ingress. Normally, this would not be so much of an issue however the building is one of the most iconic in London and is listed. 71 Fenchurch Street also holds design rights from the architect so any required change need to be aesthetically the same but functionally addressed the issue of the user.

• Water ingress into lift
• Reliability of lifts due to the call stations being out of service due to water
• To operate the lifts during full occupation whilst the lifts are modernised
• To raise the health and safety standard on the lifts to current standards

The scope of works was to modernise the lifts to introduce more reliability and more importantly remove the design issues that had become single points of failure on the lift group. The type of lifts originally installed in 1999 were bespoke and installed by Kone, the building has what is called wet and dry zones the dry zones being the lobby area, however after thorough investigation it was apparent that the wiring installed within the wet zone and the bespoke lift cars were suffering badly from water ingress. The issue was that the wiring and lift cars fall in a tourist area and have various architectural rights upon them

How the uncertainties were overcome By The Lift Consultancy?

•  The lift consultancy carried out an in depth initial investigation of technology currently available both online and in consultant with specialists and contractors, testing a variety of potential methods at the
• Feasibility report examining the relative success of different methods and the further development required to reach a workable
• Preparation of existing schematics to uncover potential locations and solutions to resolve the wiring interface issue
• Extensive research and design work went into reviewing the type of door operators available however the type that existed required it to be altered to suit the environment and to have the operation backed up by twin motors to ensure on going reliability in harsh winter conditions
• Development of the method of how to remove the old equipment and install the new as when built there was no plant replacement strategy available so access and egress from a 13th storey motor room which is essentially open the the elements. Required the design to cope with extreme weather conditions and the environment to be reviewed at the same time introducing cooling and heating for the extreme weather ranges.
• Redevelopment of new techniques to remove the need to scaffold a point of interest building so that the works could be carried out safely.