The Project
Nestled in the heart of Knightsbridge and beside the famed Hyde Park is the prestigious Mandarin Oriental Hotel. With its stunning 19th century architecture, the luxury 5-star hotel has been a sought after place of respite for a multitude of high profile and celebrity guests since its unveiling in 1902.
Owned by the world renowned Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group, the hotel boasts a lavish selection of rooms and suites, including its famous royal suite, and exudes both luxury and elegance throughout. The hotel also houses two of the most sought after restaurants in London, adding the accolade of being one of London’s most exclusive culinary high spots to its already extensive repertoire.
The grand building has recently been undergoing extensive refurbishment under the consultancy of JR Building Projects, who specialise in building restoration and refurbishment of hotels throughout London and the surrounding areas.
The Challenge
After some initial research, JR’s Directors, Jon Dawson and Russel Mady, chose a well-known model of an attended platform lift. With this in mind, they made contact with Niche Lifts with the intention of obtaining a competitive quotation, along with a delivery schedule. Understanding the environment and duty of the lift, which was transporting furniture and conference chairs between the hotel’s ballroom and a dedicated storage facility, technical experts at Niche recommended a more robust alternative.
The Solution
To illustrate the benefits of the more hardy solution, Niche Lifts arranged a site visit to allow Jon Dawson to see exactly what the differences related to. Although the Niche Lifts solution was more expensive than the original choice, it was more robust and capable of standing up to harder usage, therefore requiring less non-scheduled maintenance. This was important for the Mandarin Oriental Hotel as access to the lift on each of the two landing floors was via the hotel’s public area. After further discussion, the order was placed for Niche Lifts’ 2-stop fully clad attended goods lift.
The installation was undertaken by Niche’s site team, who worked alongside the busy onsite construction team as they refurbished the surrounding floors.
The Result
The lift has since been operational whilst ongoing refurbishment continues, and has satisfactorily fulfilled the Mandarin Oriental Hotel’s needs and expectations. When asked if they would recommend Niche Lifts services to future clients, JR Building Projects responded, ‘Definitely. In fact, we’ve already recommended them to another hotel we are currently working on.’
