Do you want to make your school, business or office building compliant with accessibility standards, but do not know where to begin? Start by installing a wheelchair-friendly public lift by Kalea.
Kalea offers public lifts that comply with <a href="https://ec.europa.eu/social/main.jsp?catId=1485&amp;langId=en" target="_blank" rel="noopener">European Accessibility Standards</a> and can be installed without the extensive construction work associated with conventional elevators. Designed for fast-track delivery and installation, our <a href="https://kalealifts.com/lifts/platform-lifts/">platform</a> and <a href="https://kalealifts.com/lifts/cabin-lifts/">cabin lifts</a> for public and commercial use will make your life and project planning easier. Discover our wide range of public lift solutions today!

White Kalea Luna platform lift with glass shaft in a public library study hall with mezzanine floor, dark green walls, white floors and white, round Bauhaus style pendants.

Kalea Luna

Dark grey platform lift at a real estate agent office with modern furniture, mustard yellow ceiling, white walls and green floor.

Kalea A4 Primo

Kalea C1 Futura

Outdoor lift with integrated machine room

Outdoor Lift

Because all lifts by Kalea are manufactured according to the same ready-made concept, they can be delivered and installed a lot faster than conventional elevators. For most of our lift models, even a prefabricated shaft is included.

Kalea A4 Primo in a private school in France

Our public and commercial elevators are ready-made accessibility solutions that require neither lift pit, top machinery, nor separate machine room. That is why our elevators will fit in almost any space and can be installed so fast.

Whereas a conventional passenger lift may take several months to make and several weeks to build, Kalea offers you public lift solutions that can be manufactured in just 3-4 weeks and installed in as little as 2-3 days.

In most public and commercial settings, the lift needs to be big enough for wheelchairs. We recommend a platform size of at least 900 x 1467 mm (w x d) for Kalea A4 Primo and Kalea Kosmos. For cabin elevator Kalea C1 Futura, you need car size of 1100 x 1400 mm (w x d). Both sizes of our outdoor lift are wheelchair accessible.

Lift solutions able to transport both large goods and passengers are very useful for many public and commercial buildings. The Kalea A4 Mille is a platform lift that can take up to 1000 kg and that is approved for both goods and passenger transport. This lift model is available in 3 sizes that can take pallets and pallet jacks.

For some public and commercial buildings, lifts have to be large enough to evacuate stretchers. In general, stretcher lifts also need to accommodate accompanying medical staff. If you need a stretcher lift, we recommend the largest platform size of our biggest platform lift, the Kalea A4 Mille, i.e. 1405 x 2480 mm (w x d).

The best public lift solution is of course one that complies with all relevant accessibility standards. But there is more to it than that. Your choice also needs to take other factors, such as available space, the listing, or class of the building into account. Most importantly, it is the users and the application of the lift that should guide your choice of lift type.

Yes, many elevators can have doors on 3 sides of the lift shaft, but it is more common to have doors on only 1 or 2 sides of the shaft.
Even when you have doors on 3 sides of the shaft of an elevator, it is more common to have 1-2 doors per floor. Each floor can have its own door configuration. When all doors are placed on 1 side of the elevator shaft, it is called “single entry”. When the doors are placed on opposite sides of the shaft it is called “open-through access” and when the doors are placed at a 90-degree angle from each other, it is called “adjacent access”.
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone wp-image-2804 size-large" src="https://admin.cibeslift.com/app/uploads/sites/14/2023/06/access-configurations-lifts-1280x960-1-1024x768.jpg" alt="Access configurations" width="1024" height="768" srcset="https://cibeslift.cdn.triggerfish.cloud/uploads/sites/14/2023/06/29162223/access-configurations-lifts-1280x960-1-1024x768.jpg 1024w, https://cibeslift.cdn.triggerfish.cloud/uploads/sites/14/2023/06/29162223/access-configurations-lifts-1280x960-1-300x225.jpg 300w, https://cibeslift.cdn.triggerfish.cloud/uploads/sites/14/2023/06/29162223/access-configurations-lifts-1280x960-1-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cibeslift.cdn.triggerfish.cloud/uploads/sites/14/2023/06/29162223/access-configurations-lifts-1280x960-1.jpg 1280w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" />
Top left: Single entry Top right: Open-through Bottom: Adjacent
All <a href="https://www.kalealifts.com/lifts/platform-lifts">Kalea platform lifts</a> can have door openings on 3 sides of the shaft. The only exceptions are the smallest lift sizes of the Kalea Luna, Kalea Kosmos and the Kalea Mini.

Can elevators open on 3 sides?

The short answer is no, platform lifts do not require a pit. A platform lift can be installed with a small pit of only 5 cm or directly on the ground (with an access ramp). However, Kalea also provides <a href="https://www.kalealifts.com/lifts/goods-lifts">platform lifts for goods and stretchers</a>, with a rated load of 1000 kg. These lifts need a slightly deeper pit of 13 cm but can also be installed without a pit, if you create a customised, site-built access ramp.

Do platform lifts need a pit?

Yes, in most countries you will need planning permission to install a lift, regardless of whether it is placed in a public or commercial building or in your home. To get help and guidance, contact the local authority that grants planning permissions, or talk to your Kalea dealer.

Do you need planning permission for a lift?

How much energy an elevator consumes depends on the drive system and capacity of the elevator as well as on how often it is used. While large, high-speed passenger lifts in high-rise buildings can consume as much as <a href="https://slate.com/technology/2009/04/when-people-take-the-elevator-does-earth-get-the-shaft.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">30 &#8211; 40 000 kWh per year</a>, a home lift will consume considerably less.
Our screw-driven lifts with standard drive carry Energy Label B when operating, and Energy Label A when idle. Given that screw-driven are not designed to be used as often as conventional passenger elevators, the energy consumption is comparatively low, even with our standard drive.
To give you an example a 2-stop Kalea platform lift with a standard drive, performing 20 travels per day, has an energy consumption of approximately 480  kWh/year.
If you want an even more energy-efficient lift, our optimised <a href="https://kalealifts.com/ecosilent-drive-kalea/">EcoSilent drive system</a> requires 45% less energy than the standard drive and has a yearly consumption of approximately 215 kWh/year.

How much energy does an elevator use?

In general, most wheelchair lifts can take between 250-500 kg, but the rated load of a wheelchair lift is in direct correlation with the lift size. In fact, the larger the lift, the more weight it needs to take. This makes perfect sense because a large lift can fit more people and wheelchairs than a small one.
<h2>What is the load capacity of a wheelchair lift by Kalea?</h2>
Our wheelchair-accessible platform lifts have a rated load of 400 -1000 kg, while our wheelchair-accessible cabin lifts have a rated load of 385-630 kg.
Like for all wheelchair lifts, our smaller lift sizes have a lower rated load than our larger ones, but the power supply also influences the rated load. Technically, a 3-phase power supply provides more power than a 1-phase connection. For that reason, a 3-phase power supply is required for our rated loads of 500 kg or higher.
Visit our <a href="https://kalealifts.com/wheelchair-lifts/">wheelchair lifts page</a> to learn more.

How much weight can a wheelchair lift take?

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Freestanding Kalea Atmos in aluminium grey finish with glass shaft and platform back with light blue linen, platform front panel in white and wood flooring.

Blue Kalea Luna platform lift with glass shaft and the door open on the bottom floor, set against a transparent background.

White Kalea A4 Primo platform with glass shaft and the door open on the bottom floor, set against a transparent background.

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