Europe’s smallest passenger lift

According to Wikipedia, it has held the record for about 18 years: the smallest passenger lift in Europe was built by a German company.

This passenger lift is the last thing for people with claustrophobia: with a floor space of approximately 0.4 m², it really is very cramped in this custom-made Hiro 700 lift. The interior car dimensions are just 61 x 69 cm. Things get really cramped when entering and leaving, since the hinged car door opens inwards.

The custom model was installed in 2001 in a private home in Denmark. There was a very simple reason for the construction in mini-format, recalls the then head of design, Dirk Behrens, "It was an old existing building in which there simply wasn’t any room for a bigger lift."

Highly space-saving drive system

The special challenge for the designers was to configure all of the components to leave enough space for the car floor. Hiro benefited in this regard from one of its own highly space-saving drive systems, which the company had launched two years earlier.

The lift travels to four stops, has a conveyance height of 8.30 m and can carry 150 kg. Normally, when calculating the permitted number of passengers, each person is assumed to be 75 kg.

Only for one person

Nevertheless, this lift may only transport one person. Try as you might, there is simply not space for more. When transporting normal household objects, you also have to consider whether you or for example the washing basket should make the trip.

After all, two normal crates of water sized 40 x 30 cm would fit next to each other in the lift. But in order to close the doors, you would have to stack the crates on top of each other.

Christian Großekathöfer

www.hirolift.de