Not long after the stroke I watched a video of Lift 109 at Battersea Power Station with himself, and we decided to go.

Lift 109 – a history

Battersea Power Station started construction in 1929, to bring power to a growing population. Sir Giles Gilbert Scott designed the towering art deco building. In 1983, the Grade II listed building was powered down. The building was eventually bought by its current owners, Sime Darby Property, SP Setia and EPF. The entire area has been revitalised, and the north-west chimney has been revamped to include a glass elevator experience – Lift 109.

Booking and Accessibility

We booked our tickets online – this is recommended especially in peak season, but also for those who require accommodations. The standard experience includes a staircase of 39 steps, but can be bypassed by booking a ticket for the ‘wheelchair lift’, which can carry a wheelchair user, plus one other.

According to their website:

The accessibility lift will bring you, and your personal assistant, to the Lift 109 onboarding platform. Due to operational requirements, the accessibilty lift will not be available for every time slot and space is
limited, with a maximum capacity of two people.

Every third session has a capacity of one wheelchair/accessibility space per booking. In other words, the time slots on the hour and on the half hour will be accessible for those who need to bypass the stairs. Please note that this is due to the health and safety procedures in place at Lift 109.

If you are a wheelchair user or someone who needs to bypass the stairs, please reserve the accessibility Lift when booking your tickets:
1. Choose which day you are looking to visit.
2. Select your tickets and choose a time on the hour or on the half hour.
3. Reserve the Accessible Lift.

https://lift109.zendesk.com/hc/en-gb/articles/7334724011805-How-do-I-bypass-the-stairs

We booked tickets for a 13:00 wheelchair lift ride, and a 13:10 lift experience.

The Experience

We arrived in plenty of time, and walked around the shopping precinct for a while before making our way to the experience. We found that the centre was not particularly well signed, and it was a touch difficult navigating. It was pretty accessible, with lifts and disabled toilets – only the Changing Places toilet is locked with a RADAR key though, so we found that many of them were in use.

Upon arrival, there is security, including a gate. Bags must be presented. We showed our tickets to the person manning this area, and he gestured us down to a queuing area.

As it was two minutes to one at this point, we tried to go through and were stopped by another member of staff. We explained that we had the accessibility lift booked and our time was nearly there. We found this member of staff to be unhelpful, just stating ‘yeah, it’s fine’. Knowing what the website stated about half hourly rides only, this made me very anxious that we would miss the opportunity.

We very quickly realised that they were bunching groups together, which isn’t an issue, but we hadn’t seen that being advised on the website. After a few minutes, we were let through to the exhibition, where another member of staff took over. We approached this member of staff stating that we had a ticket for the accessibility lift and was met with a similarly disinterested ‘that’s fine’.

Being that I struggle with anxiety, neurodivergence, and cognitive impairments, I very much struggled with this laisse fair attitude, and continued to worry that I wouldn’t be able to get the lift.

Eventually we were taken through to a short show. Well, everyone else did. Due to warnings of loud sounds and flashing lights, I elected to wait outside. Finally we were taken to the accessible lift (and the angels sang!) and then into the main lift.

The lift rises slowly through a series of lights (and I do love me some LEDs!), to surface above the chimney offering great views of the city. This part of the experience lasts around 7 minutes.

The views are lovely, and you can see many great London landmarks. Our ride was pretty full, and it could be awkward trying to move around to see everything, especially with my rollator. I imagine it to be even more difficult with a wheelchair.

The descent is quick, and we were shown to the lift to go back down and exited through the gift shop.

Overall, we were disappointed in the experience. Whilst efforts had been made to make the experience itself accessible, it was marred by the anxiety cause by lack of communication from the staff members.