Alimak provides access to Room for London

Alimak Hek has installed an SE-T 630 temporary passenger lift to provide access to the Room for London exhibit, currently perched on top of the Southbank Centre's Queen Elizabeth Hall in London, UK.

The Room for London is a one-bedroom apartment designed by David Kohn Architects in collaboration with Fiona Banner. It is the winning design in an architectural competition which attracted over 500 entries and which now forms part of the London 2012 Festival.

The winning design, A Room for London: Roi des Belges, is a boat perched on the Queen Elizabeth Hall roof which appears to have come to rest there. The timber-crafted structure offers panoramic views of the city across the Thames, including Big Ben and St Paul's Cathedral.

One challenge though was that the only access to the roof of the Southbank Centre was via internal stairs and a ladder. Therefore, project manager Alex McLenan decided a temporary lift would provide the answer and the access to the room that sits 20m above the Thames.

The SE-T 630 is fully automatic for independent use. The lift car runs on a structural mast and is driven up and down by a rack and pinion so no shaft or machine room is required. The structural mast for the lift is tied in to the structure of the building and as the masts are modular the lifts are quick to install and dismantle.