BugWorld Experience, Liverpool

Client: BugWorld
Architect: Cubit3d
Type of works: supply of Stannah's Midilift in Matt Grey, to complement BugWorld's decor.

Albert Dock is one of Liverpool's most important tourist attractions, hosting over four million visitors per year, many of which will make a beeline for the BugWorld Experience. Designed to improve access for everyone in public buildings, the Midilift is made for just this type of job.

It features easy-to-use, constant-pressure buttons and joystick, slip-resistant flooring and a sensitive safety edge that will stop the lift automatically should an obstacle impede it. Finished in Matt Grey to complement the venue’s décor, the lift operates within its own structure-supported enclosure and fully-glazed shaft, with a ramp to ease entry and exit to the rear of the ground floor.

Importantly, the lift helps premises’ owners meet the requirements of the DDA.

“A must for all budding scientists, adventurers and travellers, the BugWorld Experience is the only venue in Britain where they can get up close and personal with insects in such a fun and educational way. Our Midilift helps everyone experience our attraction and it is giving invaluable service to our many visitors," voiced Jenny Dobson, the BugWorld Experience General Manager.

It took £3.9 million to transform this Grade 1 listed building from Victorian dockside husk to an entertaining and educational UK first. Playing a key role in this transformation were Edinburgh-based design consultancy, Cubit3d, who specified a Stannah Midilift SL for two important reasons: cost-effectiveness and fit.

Before work got fully underway, the tricky vaulted ceilings again demanded a measure of fine-tuning, as Stannah Salesman, Paul Baird, explains: “The original siting of the lift at a low point in the arch created headroom issues. By shifting the installation to a slightly higher point, the problem was immediately resolved.”

Since opening in July 2009, a Stannah Midilift SL platform lift has beetled into action the moment anyone with compromised mobility wants to access the interactive challenges, games and simulated natural environments ranged over two storeys. From pushchair-wielding parents to wheelchair-users, the lift ensures no one is denied the buggy delights of this fascinating venue, which include touching some of the creatures and even tucking-in to insectivorous delicacies from around the world.

Russell Stewart, Projects Director for Cubit3d, said: “As specialists in 3D design solutions for every variety of commercial environment, we are used to resolving a project’s unique challenges. The BugWorld Experience’s vaulted ceilings created a height-restriction issue which determined the type of lift required. Not only did the Stannah Midilift’s lifting mechanism fit in neatly, but the lift also provided the most overall cost-effective solution.”