| The Express Lift Company | |
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Founded |
1917 |
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Subsidiary of |
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Preceded by |
Smith Major & Steven (SMS) Lifts |
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Succeeded by |
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Year active |
1920s - 1997[1] |
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Status |
Defunct |
The Express Lift Company was the oldest UK-based elevator division that belongs to General Electric Company (GEC) and based in Northampton, England. It was acquired by Otis in 1997[1].
History
The General Electric Company (GEC) logo
The Express Lift Company was established in 1917 by the merger of Easton and GEC elevators. In 1928 Smith, Major & Stevens joined Express, and in 1960 Easton left the partnership and made their own lifts.
In the late 1970s, a lift testing tower called Express Lift Tower (now National Lift Tower) was built in Northampton, England to facilitate lift/elevator testing and research of Express Lift. It was completed in 1982.
In 1995, Express Lift merged with another UK elevator company Evans Lifts, then both companies was known as ExpressEvans. Two years later, ExpressEvans was taken over by Otis. In addition, General Electric Company (elevator division) in Hong Kong was taken over by Otis in 1999. After ExpressEvans was taken over, Otis Elevator Company has re-operate the ExpressEvans in both UK (ExpressEvans)[2] and Hong Kong (Express)[3][4] which are nowadays both elevator company are subsidiaries by Otis. The name ExpressEvans is also used in the new Gen2-based Express M.R.L. elevator in the UK.[2]
National Lift Tower
The National Lift Tower (previously called The Express Lift Tower and known locally as the 'Northampton Lighthouse') is a lift testing tower built by the Express Lift Company located in Weedon Road in Northampton, England. The structure was commissioned in 1978 with construction commencing in 1980, and was officially opened by Queen Elizabeth II on November 12, 1982.
Elevator fixtures
Main article: Express Lifts Fixtures Guide
Notable installations
United Kingdom
- Hallfield Estate, London[5]
- Marlow House
- Exeter House
- Crowne Plaza Hotel, Glasgow
- Hilton Metropole, London
- The Tower Hotel, London
- Tower 42, London (1980, some have been modernized by Otis)
- National Lift Tower, Northampton (1982)
- Bentalls - Princess Square, Bracknell
- Beales, Hexham
- JJB Sports, Croydon, London, United Kingdom
- Fenwick, intu Eldon Square, Newcastle
- M&S, Sidney Street, Cambridge (modernized from Otis elevator, now fully replaced with Stannah)
- Fenwick, York (now modernized by Thyssen)
Other countries
Hong Kong
- Hong Kong-Macau Ferry Terminal[6]
- Tsuen Wan Hoover Plaza, Tsuen Wan (1995)
- Prince Phillip Dental Hospital (1980s)
- Happy Valley Racecourse, Happy Valley (1986)
- The Hong Kong Jockey Club Archive and Museum (1995)
- Concordia Building Tower A (1995)[7]
- Nam Fung Plaza, Hang Hau (1999)[7]
- Wong House, Yau Mau Tei (1960)[8]
- C.C. Wu Building, Wan Chai (1983)[9]
- 69 Jervois Street, Sheung Wan (1998)
- Wan Fung Centre, Central
- Prosperity Court (Community Centre), Sham Shui Po (1994)
- Yaumati Catholic Primary School (New Wing), Yau Mau Tei (2000)
Project from Hong Kong Housing Authority
- Please refer to Lift Modernisation Programme.
- Lek Yuen Plaza, Sha Tin (1976)[10]
- Tung Hei Court, Sai Wan Ho (1995)[11]
- Hoi Fu Court, Kowloon West, Hong Kong
- Tai Wo Hau Estate, Kwai Chung (1993)
- Hau Tak Estate, Tseung Kwan O
- Kwai Shing East Estate, Kwai Chung (1999)
- Yue On Court, Ap Lei Chau (1988)[12]
Singapore
- Housing and Development Board (HDB)[13]:
- Block 1, 80B, 81, 81A, 84 Toa Payoh HDB
- Block 360, 418 Woodlands HDB
- Block 842B, 856F Tampines HDB
- Block 257 Boon Lay HDB
- Block 764 Jurong West HDB
- Block 138, 856C Tampines HDB
- Block 159 Taman Jurong HDB
- Block 146 Mei Ling Street HDB
- Block 126 Lower Delta HDB
- Block 558 Choa Chu Kang HDB
- Block 4-6 Boon Keng Road HDB
- Block 267 Sembawang HDB
- Fajar Shopping Arcade
- Elias Mall
- Ayer Rajah Community Club[7]
- Jurong West HDB Branch Office[7]
- Tong Eng Building
- The Arcade, Raffles Place (1981)[14]
- Singapore Indoor Stadium[7]
Australia
- La Lingua Language School, 93 York St, Sydney
- The Chelsea, 110 Sussex St, Sydney
- 90 Mount Street, North Sydney
- Compass Centre, 83-89 North Terrace, Bankstown, Sydney
- University of Adelaide, Adelaide
Other countries
- Concorde Hotel Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia[15]
- SV City, Bangkok, Thailand (now modernized by Otis, but still has the Express logo the floor plate)[16]
- The Ambassador City Jomtien Pattaya, Chonburi, Thailand (Tower Wing)[17][18]
- 15 Cobham Court, Porirua CBD, New Zealand
Trivia
- In New Zealand, most Express Lift elevators are maintained by Schindler and have Schindler name plate (many have not been modernized by them, but they still have Schindler name plate).
- Some Express Lift elevators are often labelled as GEC (General Electric Company) or GEC Express[19] and all of those brand are not appeared in the United Kingdom.
- Express Lift also made their own escalators, but they are extremely rare. An example is found in The Arcade, Singapore, branded as GEC.[20]
- Express Lift once produce the DMR control system (Direct Measured Regulation) elevator, which is similar to Westinghouse's "Select-o-Matic" elevator system, when both companies were under partnership since 1929.
- Express Lift had a product licensing with the Australian-based Elevators Pty. Ltd. (or known as EPL KONE), therefore some older EPL KONE elevator machinery equipments are often have the Express Lifts brand badge.[21] In addition, Express Lift elevators in Australia were distributed by Elevators Pty. Ltd.
- Express Lift also supplies elevators for the Housing and Development Board (HDB) public housing flats in Singapore in the mid-1990s as part of the Lift Upgrading Programme (LUP) scheme. Before the LUP era, they also supplied a small number of elevators in the 1960s.
Gallery
Logos and nameplates
Others
Notes and references
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Northamptonshire - A Sense Of Place - 360 degree panoramic image of the Northampton Lift Tower, BBC, December, 2003
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Otis is now using ExpressEvans name again!
- ↑ Express Traction Elevator at Front Wing, Montane Mansion, Quarry Bay, Hong Kong
- ↑ Nowadays, Express (Hong Kong) which is a distributor of Diebold Aufzüge (elevators) and Hyundai (escalators).
- ↑ Some of them have been modernized by Jackson Lifts.
- ↑ Express Traction Elevator @Macau Ferry Terminal, Hong Kong
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4 Branded as GEC.
- ↑ Modernized by Otis in 1999.
- ↑ Modernized by Otis from 2010-2013 with new Xizi Otis OH 5000 controllers and new motors, but branded as Otis.
- ↑ Part of Lek Yuen Estate (refer to Lift Modernisation Programme), modernized partially by Otis using Dewhurst fixtures.
- ↑ Elevator controller in lift tower has been replaced by Otis.
- ↑ One of the lift towers have been partially modernized by Otis.
- ↑ Most of these elevators were installed around 1994-1995.
- ↑ Has an escalator installed by General Electric Company (GEC). Elevators in the tower have been modernized into Otis Compass destination dispatch.
- ↑ Modernized by Otis using Japanese fixtures
- ↑ SV City, Bangkok: Express/Otis Traction Elevators
- ↑ Ambassador City Jomtien Hotel, Chon Buri: Express Traction Scenic Elevators (Tower Wing, 24-42)
- ↑ Modernized to Mitsubishi elevators in 2015.
- ↑ Express lift with GEC logo
- ↑ Video about a very rare GEC escalator in Singapore
- ↑ Express Lifts nameplate on EPL KONE machinery
See also
External Links
- Official website of National Lift Tower
- Express Lift in Beno Lift Guide
- Express Lift history booklet from 1982
- History diagram in General Electric Company
- Wikipedia article about National Lift Tower
- Express Lifts (Nowadays small elevator company in Hong Kong)
- Express Lifts Alliance in UK
| Major elevator and escalator companies | |
|---|---|
| Full list of companies | List of elevator and escalator companies |
| Operating | Fujitec • Hitachi • Hyundai • Kone • Mitsubishi Electric (Shanghai Mitsubishi) • Otis (Otis Electric • Sigma) • Schindler • TK Elevator • Toshiba |
| Defunct | Dover Elevators • Express Lift • Orenstein & Koppel • Thyssen • thyssenkrupp • Westinghouse |
| Other companies | Third-party elevator maintenance companies |