Designing a Custom Elevator: The Process of Creating Your Bespoke Lift

Creating a custom elevator in your home involves planning both where the elevator will be placed and how it will be designed. Custom elevators are a fairly new concept for luxury homes, and these bespoke lifts have become increasingly common. To set your home apart from the rest, high-quality custom elevators can be created by our custom elevator manufacturing company to match the interior of your home or have a unique design that stands out.

Choosing the Right Mechanics for Custom Residential Elevators

The first part of planning for residential custom elevators is choosing the type of elevator best suited to the available space and current design of your home. The four main types of home elevators are hydraulic, winding drum, machine traction drive, and vacuum. Most of these elevator types require a machine room for the elevator controls and motor, and this need must be incorporated into the planning process for the installation of a custom elevator. Within these types, machine traction drive mechanisms make for particularly “green” elevators, as they don’t require oil to operate.

Size: An Important Consideration in Custom Elevator Manufacturing

Once the type of home elevator has been decided on, the size of the cab will be the next design consideration. Factors to consider when designing cabs for custom elevators include the size of the cab, its weight capacity, and the size of the elevator platform. Before planning an elaborate, high-end custom elevator cab, check with local building codes to learn the maximum allowable size for your luxury home elevator. After you’ve figured out the allowable dimensions, planning the materials and style of the custom elevator cab can begin.

Cab Shapes and Door Styles

Elevator cabs generally come in two shapes: round and box-shaped. Round elevator cabs are often used for vacuum, or pneumatic, elevators, while a square elevator cab is typical for most other types of custom lifts, including those used as a wheelchair lift. Elevators also can have different door designs, and when creating commercial or residential custom elevators, it’s important to make sure that the door options fit in with the design of your house and configuration of the elevator shaft to ensure safe service. Door options for custom elevators include a single opening door, opposite opening doors, and adjacent opening doors in either folding or sliding styles.

Selecting Materials for Your Custom Elevator Design

For the exterior and frame of the elevator cab, many styles and materials can be used in custom elevator manufacturing. One popular material for custom elevators is glass, either safety glass or plexiglass. Glass can be used for the elevator walls to create an all-glass, panoramic elevator, or it can enclose a birdcage-style lift for added safety. Bespoke glass lifts are some of the most beautiful and luxurious lifts available.

Other materials that may be used for the elevator cab include a wide variety of wood and metal types. Wood can range from common hardwoods to exotic woods, with options including oak, walnut, and mahogany as well as more uncommon choices like Brazilian cherry or cypress. Steel is a popular and durable metal, but copper, bronze, and brass are also options. Both wood and metal can be used in elevator panels on the interior or exterior of a luxury elevator. We can even use specialized textiles, such as leather. Our gallery shows some of the results of our efforts to create unique elevators for our clients nationwide.

Options for Custom Elevator Interiors

Inside the elevator cab, other aspects can be customized, too, such as the handrails and telephone cabinet. Lighting for an elevator car typically consists of recessed ceiling lights, suspended ceiling lights, and/or battery-operated lights with an alarm. As long as all of the basic components for elevator operation are in place, the style and material options are nearly limitless when designing a custom elevator to buy.

How Much Does it Cost to Have a Lift in the House?

The cost to have a lift or elevator in a house can vary widely depending on the size of your bespoke lift, the amount of construction necessary to install it, custom design options, and the number of floors your lift can access. Typically, you can buy an off-the-shelf home elevator for between $20,000 and $30,000, but a high-end custom elevator will naturally come at a higher price point.

Create Your Ideal Lift Today

When you’re ready to design a unique mobility system for your home, call 1-888-221-7475 to get a quote or purchase a luxury elevator from the best custom elevator manufacturing company in the industry. We’re a leader in providing luxury residential elevators, and when you invest in one of our lifts, we’ll include you in the design process to ensure that our expert crafters create exactly what you’re looking for. Contact us today to see what we can do for you.

Updated by Andy Darnley

More About Custom Elevators

Order a FREE Catalog

The options for a custom elevator are seemingly endless. Our designers will work alongside you through each step of the process to customize a luxury new elevator that fits your home or business perfectly. The design begins with selection of the best motor system and ideal base for your indoor elevator.