From Two to Three! | 2021 Schindler 5500s @ Shortland & Fort, Auckland CBD (Lifts A-C)

Shortland & Fort, formerly known as the Lumley Centre, is a high-rise, upper-class office building that opened in 2005 but received a very heavy refurbishment in 2021. The work involved adding a new Fort Street entrance, replacing the elevators to add an extra one in the set and have dual openings into the new lift lobby. And that was how I initially found these elevators! A locked front entrance wasn’t going to stop me either, as I went up into the carpark and found these after taking a look at the service lift I had stumbled upon. As stated, these are replacement elevators (most likely from Schindler 500 P or 700 P), and it looks like they only serve the carpark and the two tower lobbies. I didn’t go all the way up to the Shortland Street lobby (L9), because I wasn’t sure what it would open out into and I didn’t want to risk confrontations with any surprise front desks. In hindsight, though, I probably should’ve gone all the way up, as the article I read later on talking about the refurbishments (which I will link further down in this description) only mentioned the replacement of the carpark elevators, which means there’s a good chance that the main tower ones are still original Schindlers from 2005, most likely with Miconic 10! 😫
Regardless, we’re stuck with these elevators, which… honestly aren’t that bad. They’re Schindler 5500s from 2021, so…y’know.... bit bogstandard, but you still can’t fault them! Especially when they have PORT attached to them! Though I’m a little bit annoyed that the door announcements don’t activate unless handicap mode is enabled… At least unlike SO/, the floor announcements still work regardless! And it’s once again the EU Schindler voice which is amazing! First time in a long while we’ve heard the “Rear door opening/closing” announcements in NZ, I believe! I do find it odd how you can’t access the Shortland Street lobby directly from the carpark - you have to go down to the Fort Street lobby (L1) and then the option for level 9 will appear. It’s also coincidental how the only unlocked carpark floor from the lobby is level 3-the exact same floor that I started my take on-even though I’m pretty sure there are a few other carpark floors in between L1 and L9 lol! In fact, I wanted to start from level 2, as that was where I first entered; however, I couldn’t get good access to the service elevator because of the cars parked in that area, so I went up one more floor where there was less blockage. From the carpark, there are two options for level 1 - "Fort Street" brings you into the main lift lobby, whereas "Rear Lobby" brings you into a narrow area facing the carpark entrance - presumably where the original lifts would’ve opened up before the new lift lobby was put in place. In fact, you’ll notice there are only two lifts on the carpark floors and in the rear L1 opening - that’s because, as previously mentioned, Lift C is a post-replacement add-on that seems to only go between level 1 and level 9 (I didn’t get to investigate, though). Overall, these lifts aren’t bad, but I would’ve loved to see them while they were original.... Maybe I’ll chance my hand at the main tower ones next time? 🤔
Read the article about the refurbishments of the Lumley Centre / Shortland & Fort: www.cbre.co.nz/press-releases...
This video is © T3224 Elevators 2024. Reuse of any part of this video is prohibited, unless permission has been granted by the owner.
Manufacturer: Schindler
Model: 5500
Controller: MX-GC
Year: 2021
Fixtures: Linea 300; PORT
Type: (MRL/MMR?) Traction
No. of elevators in set: 3
Floors served (unlocked): ★1, 3*, ★9^
Capacity: 18 persons / 1275 kg
Film date: 05/1/2024
* = NOT served by Lift C
^ = NOT immediately accessible from L3
Elevator rating: 95/100
DT rating: 2.1/100
Total: 92.9/100