Claridge’s hotel
Classical style and modern technology can work in harmony. Claridge’s hotel recently proved this when they updated their 18th century elevator with futuristic Contactless Touch technology. Now guests experience ultramodern function while enjoying a heritage that carries many tales from history. […]
Claridge’s wanted a modern solution to allow guests to call the elevator and operate it without the need to touch commonly used buttons. In line with the hotel’s ambition to impress and inspire, they wanted a contemporary solution that would delight their guests without spoiling the original features of the 200-year-old elevator car. For the job, Claridge’s chose equipment from Dewhurst, a UK-based company with over a century of experience working in the elevator industry, who developed and delivered a first-class touchless solution with minimal disruption and maximum impact in partnership with Schindler Elevators.
For the Landing Operating Panels (LOP), Dewhurst’s Wave to Call landing unit was installed to allow guests to call the elevator from any floor without the need to touch any public surface. These touchless panels permitted the elevator to be called with a simple hand wave.
Inside the elevator, a custom solution was designed for the Car Operating Panel (COP). The new controls were developed using a combination of the Dewhurst US1 Touch Panel and HALO Touchless Car Operating System. The US1 Touch Panel was compatible with the existing Schindler elevator controls and allowed for customization of the digital screen. Dewhurst designed a stylish interface using art-deco fonts, which exhibit subtle animation when a guest selects a number. Floor selection is contactless thanks to the HALO Touchless Car Operating system, which actively monitors the area above the screen and registers calls when guests hover their finger over the floor. The touchless field is made possible with Neonode’s zForce® infrared technology housed inside the fashionable HALO casing.
