Internal Platform Lifts
– Hinchley Wood School Case Study

“Good feedback at the design stage helped us to get it right first time. As always Niche were easy to work with and the project was delivered on time. I’m looking forward to working with them again in the future.“ – Martin Peat, Richardson and Peat

Hinchley Wood School is a mixed secondary school with Academy status situated in Esher, Surrey. Their newly built NAS Cullum Centre is a specialist facility which, since opening in September 2016, helps high functioning students with autism to achieve their potential and gain at least five A*- C grades at GCSE. As with any public building, complying with the Equality Act is of the utmost importance in this new build to allow wheelchair users and those with limited mobility access to all areas of the building. Therefore architects Richardson and Peat designed the building to include both a one-floor enclosed passenger lift and a ½ floor platform step lift, providing access to a different part of this contemporary structure.

Niche was contacted by Richardson and Peat to supply and install the two lifts due to having worked together on previous successful project. Involved with the project from the outset, Niche consulted with the company at the design stage to provide feedback on the architect’s original plans and ensure that the building was optimally designed to incorporate the lifts. An Zeta enclosed one-floor passenger lift and a Mira low rise step lift, capable of providing vertical transport over a short distance to the intermediary level, were then chosen by Niche due to their suitability for the school environment and the building design.

During installation the school was very happy with the discreet way in which the Niche lift engineers went about their work, completing the job quickly and with no disruption whilst classes were ongoing. Martin Peat, of Richardson and Peat, also commented on the prompt delivery and the easy process of working with the company, saying ‘Once again there were no issues and we’re looking forward to working with Niche again in the future.’

With accessibility taken care of, Hinchley Wood School is now preparing to welcome their first intake of students to the Cullum Centre.

Full Case Study Download:

Hinchley Wood School [PDF – 2016 KB]

Find out more information about our Internal platform lifts.