Case Study: The Cutty Sark

The Queen officially re-opens the Cutty Sark

The historic ship, the Cutty Sark, was officially opened to the public by Her Majesty The Queen on 25th April, after the completion of a £50 million restoration project by the Cutty Sark Trust.

The tea clipper is now elevated so that visitors can see it from underneath as well as climb aboard, and a new exhibition space has been created in the dry berth under the ship. Gartec was selected by Apollo Lifts to assist them in providing the solution for the lift requirements on this project.

Gartec supplied three Prime 7000 platform lifts for the scheme, enabling DDA access throughout. One of the lifts is positioned within the ship itself enabling access to three deck levels; and the other two are positioned at the bow and the stern, linking the exhibition space in the dry berth to the lower deck level viewing platform. Whilst aboard, Her Majesty took a ride in one of the lifts.

Gartec's Installation Manager Ian Brewer, who accompanied Her Majesty and His Royal Highness The Duke of Edinburgh in the lift commented, "It was a great privilege to be involved in such an inspiring project, and a thrill that Gartec should fully meet the clients expectations. Today was a truly unforgettable day."

Ian was responsible for the installation team who was on hand to give advice and technical solutions throughout the project, and reflected, "Part of the satisfaction of this project comes from overcoming the many challenges posed by a ship of this age with such low available head height on deck. For example, it was necessary to design and manufacture a special low height door to fit between decks, and that required the necessary permissions and subsequent approval from the notified body DNV, which we pursued, and were granted."      

The flexibility of Gartec's range of platform lifts provides many opportunities to customise each lift, making it the perfect choice for facilitating access in any prestigious public space. In this case Apollo lifts, in discussion with the architect, specified bespoke glazing panels of nearly 2.5 metres in height and a special RAL paint colour for the shaft to complement their overall design scheme.