Check out the latest Home Design magazine featuring RESiLIFT®.  Here’s the article originally published in Home Design Spring 2018. Why should homeowners consider a home elevator? Initially associated with the aging population, residential elevators are fast becoming a lifestyle inclusion for all multi level homes. As souring land prices force developers upwards, elevators prove a safer alternative to stairs. Residential lifts are now replacing the dumb waiters being installed to take groceries from the garage to the pantry and laundry chutes previously included in luxury homes.  Many people use their elevators for commuting items that are difficult on stairs such as luggage and furniture.  Some use them for their sick/older pets, although this is rarely the primary reason for installation. Many people do not want to purchase double storey homes but with land prices cannot afford to have single storey, so installing an elevator resolves that problem. Who benefits from installing a home elevator? Nowadays architects will typically suggest at least a provision for a future lift in new build designs.    There are also a number of lifts that can be installed for existing homes, such as the RESiLIFT®. It is not just the homeowner who benefits. Because people do not have…

CASE STUDY Ros Morton was in tears six months after she and her husband Stuart moved into their new two-storey home in Rosebud, Victoria. Yes, there were the amazing views of Port Phillip Bay and the sun setting slowly on the horizon. And yes, they were excited to be close to their son and his family in Mount Eliza and all the Peninsula had to offer after relocating from Mooroolbark (Edna Walling territory). But there was one major problem preventing Ros from enjoying any of it. “I’d had a full hip replacement and was having problems rehabilitating. I was in this fabulous house and thinking what have we done? How am I ever going to navigate the stairs? I could barely drag myself up from ground level let alone carry shopping or washing from one floor to the other. We were seriously considering another move.” The Morton’s main living area is on the top floor of their Rosebud home – ideal for drinks on the deck and sighting ships in the distance, but not so great if you are physically challenged. “I had to rely on Stuart to do all the lifting which was difficult because he was going through…

The idea of the lift was conceived when it was proposed to Peter Van Emmerik by his son Andrew, that in view of the ageing population and the absence of a lift suitable for residential use, a market for this product would emerge and that it would provide Peter with a challenging retirement project at age 67. The options were evaluated and it was concluded that to make the lift economic and blend in with the home decor as a retro fit was to make it free standing by eliminating the enclosures and enclosure doors. It was discovered that the Australian Standards Commission had also foreseen the emerging need and had composed and issued a Standard AS 1735 part 15 to meet this need.  The “thru lift” concept was birthed at this very time. The next challenge was to have the entire lift motor, wire rope system, control boards etc. within the 300 mm high space between the cabin ceiling and the home ceiling to avoid penetrating the upper floor ceiling into the roof space. Peter set out drafting the lift on a drafting board he had purchased at a Hydro fire sale!  The prototype unit was then produced on…