What Was The First Office Building In The World With A Lift System?

Whilst the passenger lift system received arguably its most important innovation and safety demonstration in 1854 with Elisha Otis’ heart-stopping cut rope, it would take a while for the system to be incorporated into building designs.

The reason for this was in part due to the difficulties in finding a building large enough to show off what was, at the time, a state of the art technology.

However, the lift would get its day in the sun when Arthur Gilman and Edward H Kendall designed the Equitable Life Building in Manhatten, New York in 1868, and would work with the Otis Elevator Company to add elevators to an office building for the very first time.

Part of the reason for this was that before the development of reinforced concrete, buildings would rarely reach over four stories and as a result elevators were primarily used for mines, transporting war materials and in hotels.

There was, at the time, a negative reputation attached to having an office that was above the second floor, simply because that meant workers were more tired as they had to climb flights of stairs.

Initially, two steam elevators were installed when the building opened in 1870, but before the decade was out another four had been added, which became ten by the late 1880s as the building became a tourist attraction in its own right.

Whilst not a skyscraper, it was an especially tall building for the time, and so people walking on Broadway would often visit the top floor to see some rather unique views of New York for the time.

The building was hugely successful and by the end of the century had over 3,000 occupants, in part due to its lifts allowing more people to work in the building as well as amenities such as electric lighting giving it a luxury reputation.

Unfortunately, whilst the building was touted as “fireproof” by the designers, it unfortunately burned down in 1912, to be replaced by what was at the time the largest office building in the world, the Equitable Building, which still stands to this day.