Handicare and Aline Mobility team up to improve accessibility at Lancaster City Museum
Accessibility manufacturer Handicare has teamed up with North West of England installer Aline Mobility to fit a new wheelchair platform lift at Lancaster City Museum.
The made-to-measure inclined lift helps users with mobility needs travel up the main staircase from the ground floor exhibitions to the first floor.
Manufactured by Garaventa Lift, the Artira inclined platform lift was provided by Handicare. The Aline and Handicare teams in the UK worked closely with Garaventa Lift in Italy to achieve the optimum solution for the museum, both practically and visually.
The new Artira inclined platform lift offers an innovative solution for complex stairs. It holds up to 250kg and is designed for minimum staircase intrusion when folded and in use.
Inclination can reach up to 68 degrees and it travels at a maximum speed of 0.15 m/s for a distance of up to 50 metres.
A listed building, Lancaster City Museum was constructed between 1781-1783. The impressive Georgian building attracts around 50,000 visitors a year and is fully accessible via ramps and the new platform lift, which replaced a previous obsolete lift that was removed before installation of the Artira.
Heather Maddox, Director at Aline Mobility, commented: “This is a really prestigious project to have been involved with. At Aline we work with a number of councils, architects and partners to find the right mobility solution for a host of different users and buildings.
“We did a lot of research into curved lifts and platform lifts and the Artira from Handicare was by far the best product for the staircase in the museum.”
Jason Skelding, UK Trade Sales Director at Handicare added: “We’ve worked with Aline for over 20 years and are pleased to see our partnership progressing from stairlifts to other products in our portfolio, especially our Garaventa Lift platform lifts.
“The lift is going to be genuinely beneficial for the museum’s visitors and we’re thrilled it’s installed before the summer holiday season starts!”
Handicare is a global provider of straight, curved and outdoor stairlifts and has been providing mobility solutions since 1886. It was acquired by Savaria Corporation in 2021, following Savaria’s acquisition of Garaventa Lift, which provides custom-made platform lifts for mobility and accessibility in homes and public locations, in 2018.
