Many people wish to build their own single storey houses in order to remain at home when old age approaches, but that was never an option for Nils, a seasoned architect by trade. “We would also like to live at home,” he explains, “but not in a single storey house. Sooner or later the stairs become a problem, so it was a good idea to include a platform lift.”

Nils and his wife, Brith-Eli, live in a house situated on a hillside lot in an old recreation area, within a slightly restrictive 600sq m plot. Designing houses since the mid-1970s, this is the third house Nils has designed for his family, whose children have now left home. The property is a split level house with a living area of 160sq m over two floors, with the ground floor accommodating an 85sq m garage and storage area which Nils intends to convert into an office when he has retired.

Door to door
“As this lot is small we had to build on height. Perhaps not the obvious choice when you’re approaching retirement, when many seem to suffer from back ache and pains in their knees. But there are platform lifts,” says Nils. All the walls of the house are white and the oak board floor adjoins with the clinker stones in the entrance hall, which is located at the entresol level. Just behind the door is the platform lift situated which serves all three floors of the house. “When we drive the car into the garage and get out, we only have to put all the grocery bags into the platform lift and travel upwards. We use it daily, especially when we move things. And our grandchildren just love it,” laughs Nils.

Seamless integration
The 5.7m lift journey takes just less than 40 seconds to travel. The platform lift travels silently and smoothly up the soft black powder coated, aluminium lift shaft. As large windows invite a great deal of light into the open plan layout of Nils and Brith-Eli’s house, through the glazed shaft you can see how the drive mechanism operates while you’re moving between floors.

“Design is extremely important. The platform lift should be like a piece of furniture in the house, just a detail that stands out. Not too large or too dominant,” explains Nils, who carefully investigated that the sound level of the platform lift was low and that the choice of materials would blend in with the other interior elements. “With the black finish and glazed sides I wanted to create a contrast to the white walls, to give it a special effect,” and though Nils is mainly design led, he also didn’t want to forget about the other specifics of the platform lift. “Design is one thing, but a lift must not be too expensive or technically complicated. It must be easy to accommodate with small installation measurements.”

Though some mobility products can prove expensive, Nils and his wife never hesitated to invest in a platform lift. “It is an investment. The house will be here for a long time and we also intend to live here for a long time. My architect colleagues are lyrical and think it was an extremely wise investment,” and it has given Nils a new lease of life in the mean time.

Facts about Nils’ lifts:

Lift height: 5.7m, three floors

Lifting speed: 9m/min (0.15m/s)

Lifting capacity: 400kg

Material: Glazed panels,
with aluminium parts in
soft black finish

Comfort: Frequency controlled motor to make the lift start and stop softly and run silently

Design: The lift is a platform lift, powered by a mechanical screw and nut drive system. The platform lift is manufactured in Sweden by Cibes Lift

To find out more about platform lifts and Cibes Lift AB’s product range please contact:
Tel: +46 290 29550
Web: www.cibeslift.com
Email: sales@cibeslift.com