A new dawn for Stannah: introducing the 158
Stannah, a 158-year-old family business and one of the world’s leading manufacturers of stairlifts, is set to launch a ground-breaking new stairlift model today at tradeshows on two continents: NAEC Expo at Houston, USA and Rehacare International in Düsseldorf, Germany.
The bold new product aims to redefine the concept of a stairlift, challenging what it is and what it can be. Combining design excellence with advanced engineering, the new stairlift offers the ultimate blend of comfort, style, safety and movement, all with easy-to-use controls.
A limited edition early production run of just 158 units is available in a single dramatic yet elegant colour scheme: a smart black rail and carriage are paired with a beautifully sculpted chair, finished with tactile two-tone upholstery in warm, neutral tones. Not only beautiful, the sustainable upholstery textiles are made from a high proportion of pre- and post-consumer leather and wool.
Designed from the outset to be a statement piece, to be a piece of furniture to enhance the home, the premium new stairlift will appeal to those who value thoughtful design in all aspects of their lives. A product that feels truly at home, in your home.
Packed with smart features and powered functions, the 158 offers a reimagined user experience. The chair has a radical new forward-facing seat fold to create a neater folded profile, a deep seat with inclined backrest for enhanced user comfort and gentle audio responses to provide reassuring feedback at every step of the journey. The chair also introduces the ability to programme the powered fold, swivel and footrest on installation to suit each user’s needs.
“Ever since we added stairlifts to our portfolio 50 years ago, it has been our family mission to help solve accessibility issues in the home,” comments Nick Stannah, Joint CEO, Stannah Home Accessibility and fifth generation family member. “This product encapsulates all our lift experience, our absolute commitment to quality and our most beautiful design yet. If I look back to our first models from the 1970s that my father and uncle introduced, while a revelation at the time, they were clunky, chunky and very institutional looking. We’ve been innovating and evolving our designs ever since and now our 158 sets yet another new standard for the stairlift market.”
While consumers will benefit from the superior design aesthetic and powerful new functions, Stannah distributors will welcome the central swivel, bi-directional swivelling at any park point and ease of mapping charging points on the rail. These features bring greater flexibility to stairlift specification, really opening up new opportunities to deliver an enhanced product experience for the customer.
Remarking on the launch, Kev Marshall, Global B2B Director, Stannah Home Accessibility, said, “The stand-out aesthetic coupled with such rich, innovative functionality, all underpinned by the Stannah commitment to quality mean this is a stairlift like no other. With the 158, our distributors can really stand out in the marketplace, bringing their customers an accessibility solution that looks and feels like a beautiful piece of contemporary furniture.”
The new stairlift will be available to order from 17 September in select regions in Europe and North America.
Alongside the 158, visitors to the Stannah stands will also be able to see the Uplifts by Stannah homelift, a perfect blend of simplicity and style that offers customers another great option to maintain access around the home they love.