Why Do Elevators (Almost Always) Have Mirrors?

Chances are you’ve stepped into an elevator sometime recently. And if you were in there on your own (or even if you weren’t), the chances are also good that you used the mirrored panels inside the elevator to check your hair or your outfit. But why do elevators tend to have mirrors inside them at all? 

Well, unsurprisingly, there’s a lot more to this particular design choice than simply giving you a chance to check your appearance. (Although that, admittedly, is probably part of it.)

PASSING THE TIME

Let’s face it, standing inside a metal box being hauled up or lowered down inside a building isn’t exactly the most exciting way to pass the time. So, in the absence of any glass or windows, placing mirrors inside the elevator at least gives passengers the chance to use their time in the lift a little more constructively, by giving them the chance to check their hair or outfit as the elevator moves.

So as well as providing a welcome distraction to your surroundings, the mirrors are at least potentially useful (especially given that the alternative is just bare metal or wooden panelling!) 

ANXIETY

To some people, of course, the idea of standing inside a metal box being hauled up and down inside a building is enough to send their heart racing and their head spinning.

From a psychological perspective, elevators can understandably trigger anxiety and claustrophobia (the fear or dislike of enclosed spaces), and so the addition of mirrors inside them can help give the illusion of more space, making them seem less confined and thereby alleviating some of that panicky sensation. 

SAFETY AND SECURITY

There are other more serious sides to the mirrors in an elevator too, though. Reflective surfaces not only let you see yourself, but allow you to keep an eye on everyone else who is in the elevator with you. As a result, they have been credited with everything from spotting thieves and pickpockets, to even preventing assault. 

ACCESS ISSUES

The very first elevator mirrors, however, are said to have been installed in Japanese high-risers for one very specific and highly ingenious reason: wheelchair access. Because elevators are naturally rather small, passengers who use wheelchairs often don’t have sufficient room inside them to turn themselves around.

Consequently, having wheeled in from the corridor or landing where the elevator is located, without being able to turn around they would then have to wheel themselves back out of the elevator backwards—with considerably less visibility than if they had been able to do a 180 and exit facing forwards. (Or, alternatively, they would have to call for the elevator, than do a 180 on the corridor as it arrives, and wheel themselves inside backwards—which is hardly an easier or particularly suitable solution.)

Placing mirrors on the inside of the elevator, ultimately, solves this access problem. Having wheeled themselves into the lift facing forwards, wheelchair-using passengers can then use the mirror on the back wall of the elevator to give themselves a view of the corridor or the area they’re exiting onto—essentially like the rear-view mirror inside a car—allowing them to exit safely. 

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