Elevators

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    Seven homes with discrete cleverly designed lifts

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    A converted showroom in London and a São Paulo penthouse with a wood-wrapped elevator are included in this lookbook of homes with smart residential lifts.

    Lifts, also known as elevators, are mechanical shafts that carry people, cars and loads between multiple levels and are typically used in tall buildings.
    But they can also be found in residential buildings, where they can be used to quickly move between floors and ensure that people with mobility issues can easily access the different levels of their homes.
    This is the latest in our lookbooks series, which provides visual inspiration from Dezeen’s archive. For more inspiration see previous lookbooks featuring beige interiors, cosy cabins, space-saving pocket doors.
    Photo is by Ema PeterSyncline, Canada, by Omar Gandhi Architect

    Canadian architecture firm Omar Gandhi Architects built this three-storey home in Halifax, Nova Scotia. The home was named after a syncline – a type of rock formation – and comprises two white volumes that flank a double-height glazed core at its centre.
    A lift was added to the home and set within locally-sourced spruce housing. This elevator is located at the corner of the home and leads to its open-plan kitchen from behind a white door.
    Find out more about Syncline ›
    Photo is by Masao NishikawaEspirit House, Japan, by Apollo Architects & Associates 
    Espirit House was designed by Japanese architecture studio Apollo Architects & Associates for a client who works in landscaping.
    The main bulk of the home has a blocky concrete form and is suspended above a garage. An elevator leads to the interior of the home,  where it is located next to the staircase in the main dining area. Floor-to-ceiling windows flank each side of the home, bringing light to the wood-clad interior.
    Find out more about Espirit House ›
    Photo is by Joe FletcherCole Valley Residence, US, by Jensen Architects
    Completed by San Francisco-based practice Jensen Architects, this home was built for a couple who wanted a home with a serene feel that had views of San Francisco.
    Totalling five storeys, the home is composed of a number of stacked boxes with cantilevered areas. Jensen Architects added a simplistic interior palette of white oak, plaster and polished concrete.
    An elevator was added to the home so that its owners can enjoy the space and its views as they age. On the fourth floor, it is located within a white-painted volume and opens up towards an outdoor terrace.
    Find out more about Cole Valley Residence ›
    Photo is by Fran ParenteSão Paulo penthouse, Brazil, by Tria Arquitectura
    At this São Paulo penthouse, which was designed by Brazilian studio Tria Arquitectura, an elevator shaft was wrapped in vertical strips of slatted wood.
    Other textural materials were used throughout the home, including travertine floors, fabric and wood-panelled walls, which contrast against the home’s stark white walls.
    Find out more about São Paulo penthouse ›
    Photo is by Rachael SmithDanish Mews House, UK, by Neil Dusheiko
    In this west London home that was converted from a showroom to a residence for its elderly owners, British architect Neil Duskeiko installed a lift so that its residents could gain access to the upper floors of the home with ease.
    The elevator runs from the ground floor to the living area and finally to the primary bedroom, which was decorated with floral wallpaper. The elevator has a wooden door with a decorative grain that matches the ceiling.
    Find out more about Danish Mews House ›
    Photo is by Kyle MonkCase Room, US, by Geoffrey von Oeyen
    A glass door fronted elevator was added to the ground and first floor of this Malibu home that was designed by American designer Geoffrey von Oeyen.
    Von Oeyen extended the home and incorporated a paired back interior palette that was comprised of light wood panelling, dark stone floors and white walls. The elevator, which is located to the right of the front entrance, allows visitors with limited mobility to easily access the home’s renovated media room.
    Find out more about Case Room ›
    Photo is by Stijn Poelstra FotografieAmsterdamsestraatweg Water Tower, the Netherlands, by Zecc Architecten
    A former water tower in Utrecht was converted into a series of apartments that have 360-degree views of the city. Dutch studio Zecc Architecten retrofitted the building and added the largest of its apartments, a six-level home, to its very peak.
    A private elevator, located within a white volume and beside a floating staircase, provides access to the six-floor apartment and opens out to an entrance space that features a rusted metal convexed ceiling constructed from the tower’s former water tank.
    Find out more about Utrecht Water Tower ›
    This is the latest in our lookbooks series, which provides visual inspiration from Dezeen’s archive. For more inspiration see previous lookbooks featuring beige interiors, cosy cabins, save-saving and pocket doors. 

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      Bureau de Change inserts bronze lift into 1920s art deco office block

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      Bronze laser-cut sheets wrap around the lift shaft that extends up through this building in central London, which has been updated by architecture studio Bureau de Change.The elevator links together all four floors of The Gaslight, a mixed-use development that’s been created within an art deco building in central London’s Fitzrovia neighbourhood.

      Originally constructed in 1929 as offices for the now-defunct Gas, Coke and Light Company, the building has recently been completely renovated by dMFK Architects to include a series of bright, airy rooms.

      Bureau de Change was tasked with developing the interiors, which are meant to have a contemporary feel while still showing hints of the building’s art deco heritage.

      “We enjoy working with existing buildings, transforming them for a new purpose but doing it with a kind of nostalgia at the heart of the designs,” said Bureau de Change’s co-director, Katerina Dionysopoulou.
      “It was a pleasure to explore these ideas for The Gaslight and ultimately enrich a building so that it can take on a new meaning.”

      The Gaslight building is accessed via a lobby that’s illuminated by a trio of large spherical pendant lamps.
      At its centre is a striking lift. The shaft of the lift is made from concrete which Bureau de Change has wrapped in two layers of bespoke bronze sheeting.

      The first bronze sheet is flat and has been laser-cut to feature an intricate art deco-inspired pattern. Laser cutting has also been done to the second bronze sheet, but this has been folded to feature concertina-style pleats.
      Layered over each other, the sheets create a moiré effect that obscures the concrete underneath.

      The second pleated bronze sheet turns at a 90-degree angle to clad the underside of the lobby’s stairs. This eventually “peels off”, leaving just the flat bronze sheet to cover the lift shaft on the building’s upper levels.

      Atelier Dau adds kinetic bronze facade to Chimney House extension in Sydney

      “Industrial materials and fabrication techniques were therefore explored in a more artisan-like manner, with laser-cut bronze panels folded to create an intricate framework,” added the studio’s co-director, Billy Mavropoulos.

      The white terrazzo that covers the floor and stairs of the lobby has also been used to line the lower half of the building’s bathrooms and hallways, a modern interpretation of the wooden panelling that the studio thinks would have appeared in the original building.
      Surfaces have otherwise been painted in cool grey or sage-green tones.

      Some of the glazed partitions in the building have been overlaid with shapely patterns that match the cut-outs on the lift shaft.
      Other unique details include the building’s entrance door handles, which have been hand-carved with a series of grooves. The Gaslight’s address number has also been shaped into the metal spokes that run along the top of its restored front gate.

      Bureau de Change is based in Clerkenwell. The studio has previously created a barn-style home in the Cotswolds with an ombre-effect timber facade and added a texture brick building into a century-old London terrace.
      Photography is by Gilbert McCarragher.
      Project credits:
      Architects: dMFKInterior architects: Bureau de ChangeStructural engineer: Michael Hadi AssociatesM&E engineers: WB ShielsProject manager: Alford PorterQuantity surveyor: Alford PorterMetal fabricator: John Desmond

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