Project Description

LECS UK’s expertise was called on by Gucci!

Not for fashion direction but rather to advise and consult on the vertical transport element of a grand refurbishment project at Gucci’s new flagship store on New Bond Street in London.

The overall project focused on the extensive refurbishment of a Grade-II listed building located at 144 – 146 New Bond Street, with LECS UK brought in as the consulting lift engineers for the development.  Spanning five floors and boasting a palatial 15,000-square-feet of space the Gucci store was designed using LEED guidelines and principles, to monitor and promote energy efficiency.

The LECS UK team worked closely with Hyphen architects and the Gucci design team to deliver the complete VT project of two new lifts: one front-of-house passenger lift and one back-of-house passenger and goods lift.

The existing lift shafts of both lifts required major structural alterations to achieve the desired outcome.

For the front-of-house lift, the size of the existing shaft needed to be increased, introducing a positive drive lift with an adjacent entry. This was achieved by opting for a ‘cross corner’ guide arrangement.

For the back-of-house lift the orientation was changed to increase the car size in both width and depth. The low headroom and pit resulted in additional safety features being added to the lift and a successful derogation being awarded for the design.

Lee Dean, consulting lift engineer and director at LECS UK said: “We really enjoyed this project. Working on listed buildings often brings its own set of unique challenges and this project was no different. Nevertheless, the result is flawless and achieves the perfect outcome for the client.”

The high-quality finishes of both lifts align perfectly with the Gucci brand – effortlessly bringing customers safely from floor to floor in Gucci style.

Other similar LECS UK projects include:, Loewe flagship store, New Bond Street;  One Sloane hotel, London;  Design Musuem  London