Is a Swiss lift shaft-building robot the future of construction?

By Tom Lowe2025-04-04T06:00:00

In central London, a robot called Emma is being used to make the gruelling job of building lift shafts faster, safer and more precise. Tom Lowe visits the site of Skanska’s 105 Victoria Street to see if the device is all it’s cracked up to be

I am on a hoist halfway up a lift shaft watching a robot staring intently at the contents of a toolbox. This goes on for some time. “It’s thinking,” my tour guide explains, waiting patiently.

Several minutes pass. Suddenly the robot arrives at a decision, selects a bolt and then swivels madly into the shaft, extending its single arm with unnerving speed before proceeding to drill into the wall.

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