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In a tower there is no hoist option. The lift is the only way up.
Onex was built as one of Switzerland’s early large high rise estates, on the plateau south west of Geneva, and it is among the densest communes in the country. That density changes one thing about a delivery that people do not expect.
Almost anywhere else in Switzerland, when the lift will not take a wardrobe, there is an answer: an external hoist working from the street up to a window or balcony. It is routine across Switzerland and nobody blinks at it.
In a fifteen storey tower that answer does not exist. Hoists reach a limited height, and above it there is no alternative to the lift and the stairs. So the lift dimensions here are not a preference or a saving, they are a hard limit on what can physically reach your flat.
Measure the lift car and the door opening before anybody quotes. If something will not fit, the decision is whether to take it at all, and that is better made in your old home than in a lobby in Onex.
Onex also appears as Onex-Cité and Geneva canton. Whichever version you searched for, this is the same city and the same page. Give the mover the address exactly as it appears on your Swiss lease.
Two numbers matter more here than almost anywhere in the country: the internal dimensions of the lift car, and the width of the door opening. The opening is usually the narrower of the two and it is what stops long items going in diagonally.
Add the floor. A second floor flat with a small lift is a stairs job and perfectly manageable. A twelfth floor flat with the same lift is a different conversation entirely.
If the answer is that a piece will not go up, decide before the move rather than after. Shipping something across a continent to discover it cannot enter the building is the worst possible outcome and it is entirely avoidable.
The compensation for the lift problem is everything else. Estates of this kind were laid out with vehicles in mind, so there is space around the blocks, service access exists and there is somewhere to stand.
Building management is active, as it has to be with this many households. Expect a booked lift slot, protective covering and restricted hours, and expect the rules to be enforced rather than suggested.
The village of Onex predates the estate and sits separately, with the narrow lanes of an old Geneva village. It is a small area and quite different to work in.
Not everything below applies to every Onex move. These are the three worth reading first.
Lift dimensions, and what will not fit.
Why the floor number changes the number.
Packing, when the block requires a booked lift slot.
Onex is its own commune with its own administration. Registration on arrival and any parking application go here, not to the city of Geneva, the same as Carouge, Lancy and Meyrin.
Those four ring the city and each is a distinctly different job. Carouge has archways and courtyards, Meyrin is a planned town, Lancy is being rebuilt, and Onex is towers.
Everything is French speaking, and the postcode settles the address.
Because hoists reach a limited height and much of the housing is high rise. Everywhere else in Switzerland, a lift that will not take a wardrobe has an answer in a hoist from the street. In a tall tower that answer does not exist, so the lift becomes a hard limit.
The internal dimensions of the lift car and the width of the door opening, which is usually the narrower of the two. Add the floor number, because a second floor flat with a small lift is a manageable stairs job and a twelfth floor flat with the same lift is not.
Decide before the move rather than after. Shipping a piece across a continent only to find it cannot enter the building is the worst outcome available and it is entirely avoidable with two measurements taken in advance.
No, that part is good. Estates of this kind were laid out with vehicles in mind, so there is space around the blocks, service access exists and there is somewhere for a lorry to stand. It is the vertical journey that is constrained, not the horizontal one.
A booked lift slot, protective covering in the lobby and lift, and restricted hours, all enforced rather than suggested. With this many households in one block, management has to be active. Get the manager contact to the mover early.
No. The village of Onex predates the estate and sits separately, with the narrow lanes of an old Geneva village. It is a small area and quite different to work in, so say which part of the commune your address is in.
No, it is its own commune with its own administration, as are Carouge, Lancy and Meyrin around the same city. Registration on arrival and any parking application go to Onex rather than to the city.
Collection address, the Onex delivery address, a room by room list and the window you can work with. One vetted moving company from our network checks the route and the access, then comes back to you.
Send your move detailsOperated by DATACONTEXT (UK) LTD, company number 07425576, ICO registration ZB022743, registered at Norman House, Saint Saviours Estate, Abbey Street, London SE1 3DH. Running since 2010. We work with vetted moving companies in the AGM Group network.
Written by Darren Benjamin, founder of International Removals Companies, who has run the business since 2010. Last checked 5 August 2026.