A church building or place of worship should be an inviting place where visitors feel welcome. Additionally, as a public building, any church must meet be compliant with disability standards in Australia in terms of accessibility.
There are a number of areas within a church where mobility may be limited due to stairs and platform, from multilevel buildings to accessing stages, platforms, pulpits, and even car parks. Ensuring that your church facilities are fully accessible will not only assist wheelchair bound and physically disabled visitors, it can also be helpful to elderly patrons, children, and parents with prams.
Axis Lifts offer a wide range of disability access solutions suitable for both low and high traffic church buildings. Call us today on 1300 002 947 for expert advice on choosing the right accessibility solution for your building and for a free quote.
Accessibility Options For Churches
Ramps
Ramps are an affordable accessibility option that are often used outdoors. This is because ramps require a lot of space for installation that often isn’t available indoors. According to Australian Standard 1428.1, the gradient of a step ramp must be 1:10. This means that a ramp that is 1 metre high will need to be at least 10 metres long.
Platform Stair Lift
A platform stair lift is a versatile access solution that can be used both indoors and outdoors. As the name suggests, a platform stair lift is essentially a platform that follows the trajectory of the stairs to transport users between levels. Platform lifts can be to transport a passenger as well as their mobility aid, from wheelchairs and mobility scooters, to walkers and even prams.
Another benefit of a platform stair lift is that it can be folded down when not in use, minimising obstruction to the stairway. As platform stair lifts are designed to follow the trajectory of a set of stairs, Axis Lifts offers both straight and curved lifts to fit most existing stairways.
Vertical Platform Lifts
Vertical platform lifts are similar to platform stair lifts in that they can be used to transport a passenger as well as their mobility aid including wheelchairs, mobility scooters and walkers. However, vertical platform lifts travel straight up and down rather than following the slow ascent of a stairway.
For this reason, vertical platform lifts are a great alternative to ramps where space is limited, as they only take up the space of the platform. Vertical platform lifts can be used both indoors and outdoors and come in 1m and 2m models.
Enclosed Platform Lift
An enclosed platform lift is similar to the elevators you would find in a shopping centre. These lifts typically have a fully enclosed cabin or platform inside an enclosed shaft that travels vertically between floors. Unlike the aforementioned access solutions, enclosed shaft lifts can be used to transport multiple passengers at a time rather than a single wheelchair user.
Enclosed platform lifts have a number of uses, from transporting able bodied passengers to those with mobility issues including wheelchair users, mobility scooters, prams, and passengers with other mobility aids such as walkers or crutches. Additionally, enclosed platform lifts can also be used to transport furniture and equipment safely between levels rather than having to carry them up and down stairs.
Reliable Access Solutions
Whether you’re retrofitting a lift to your existing church or looking to add one as part of a new build, Axis Lifts has the solution for you. We offer a range of access solutions with both indoor and outdoor applications in varying sizes and capacities to fit the meeting size and frequency of use for your place of worship.
For expert advice on choosing the right access solution for your church contact your local lift specialists at Axis Lifts on 1300 002 947 for a free quote or fill out our contact form.
