In Anticipation

As your author writes this, two members of the Elevator World Inc. team, Associate Editor Lindsay Fletcher and Managing Director, Türkiye and Middle East Bülent Yılmaz, are preparing to travel to London for LIFTEX 2025, which is taking place at ExCeL London on 11-12 June. It is with excitement that we finish this issue, full of advertisements and articles from individuals and companies that will be attending and/or exhibiting at LIFTEX. It is always a treat to visit in-person with so many we regularly work with remotely and to meet others in the industry for the first time. 

I assume it’s fair to say that most of us follow the news carefully and sometimes fret over the state of the world, whether it be wars, trade agreements or environmental issues. It is that much more heartening, then, to come together and talk business at an event like LIFTEX, where we can meet face-to-face and share information about the latest trends, see new products demonstrated and, in general, enjoy each other’s company for a while, letting many outside factors fall away. We are a global industry and continually strengthened by that fact. Our team looks forward to the meetings planned and catching up with old and new friends. We will report back to you about LIFTEX 2025’s outcomes in our next issue.

In this issue, we focus on Doors and Door Operators, an important topic that always inspires interesting and insightful submissions. We feature four articles on the topic: 

General-Purpose Door Drive by Fletcher. This product spotlight looks at an evolved version of a previous door drive. 

Futureproofing the U.K.’s Vertical Transport by Phil McDonnell. This article explores the reasons why flexibility in door operators is no longer optional.

Modelling Failure Detection of Lift Doors Through Sensor Fusion by Daan Smans. Emerging technologies improve the overall accuracy and reliability of detecting potential failures. 

Door System Design Evolution by Colin Craney. Our Consultant’s Voice columnist gives his take on how and why the practice has developed as it has.  

Our features this issue are four spectacular projects, two from the U.K., one from Australia and one from Hong Kong.

Our cover story, Tyne Tunnel by Liftinstituut’s Natania Leongson, details the vertical-transportation updates in the tunnels under the River Tyne. 

In Combining Accessibility With Historical Elegance submitted by Stannah, the company tells the story behind its all-glass passenger lift in the reimagined Creamery building at the heart of Castle Cary railway station. 

Submitted by Next Level Elevators, The Esplanade, located in Brighton Beach, Australia, is the Project of the Year 2025 winner in the Private-Residence Elevators category. 

Sky Bridge, Hong Kong International Airport, submitted by TK Elevator, is the Project of the Year 2025 winner in the Moving Walks category. 

Along with these highlighted articles, this issue features offerings on new technology, traffic analysis and product spotlights, as well as reports on three events from around the world: 42nd Heilbronn Elevator Days, Lift AI Partner Summit 2025 and MIPIM 2025. We also celebrate the life of Pat Gale, an “unsung lift trooper” who travelled the world and supported the British lift industry. Pat passed away in March, but her legacy will live on in the industry that she loved. 

Thank you for reading, and please send your feedback, ideas and articles to [email protected].