Improving visitor access to historic buildings

An in-depth look at how products from DORMA UK, one of the world's leading suppliers of door technology systems, have helped improve visitor access to cultural and historic buildings.

Improving visitor access to cultural and historic buildings.

The swan is often described as giving the illusion of being calm on the surface, while paddling furiously underneath and it is not unreasonable to make this comparison with commercial life in museums, art galleries and general heritage sites around the country.

On the surface these institutions appear generally tranquil and often rather elegant, however, behind the scenes there has been some serious enforced paddling in recent years.

The pressures have come from radical changes in government policies, the possibilities offered by lottery funding, new technologies, increasing visitor numbers and perhaps the most impactful - the Disability Discrimination Act (DDA).

The principle behind compliance with the DDA, Part III of which comes into force in October 2004, is that 'reasonable adjustments' should be made to the physical features of a building so that it also becomes accessible to people with disabilities.

Unlike other sectors though, public and listed buildings do have the added problem of reconciling the provision of dignified access for everyone with the preservation of a historical and architectural environment.

Nevertheless a great deal is being done to meet compliance and it should be stressed too that making a building 'accessible' is a requirement that applies throughout the building - simply creating an accessible entrance from the street is not an adequate response.

Whether able bodied or with disabilities, if visitors are to move freely, easily and safely throughout a building, one of the most important considerations are the doors.

External doors, adjoining doors between rooms, those leading to corridors, or into toilets and lift areas, must all be negotiated easily - and the careful planning of fire doors and panic exits to the outside of the building is critical.

Far too many traditional installations are a potential threat, particularly to the safety of children, elderly people and those with disabilities.

The ability to meet practically any requirement.

One company with an exceptional record in the provision of access and emergency egress solutions is DORMA UK limited, one of the world's leading suppliers of door technology systems and allied products.

Their product range is extremely comprehensive and will meet practically any requirements, including as it does automatic sliding, swing, folding, and revolving variants.

In addition DORMA offers an enormous range of door furniture, glass systems and fittings and movable walls - all backed by a nationwide specialist Service Division.

A brief overview of which solutions best suit certain applications is always going to have its limitations, but broadly speaking, for heavy traffic situations typical of many venues in the cultural sector, automatic sliding doors provide a good solution - they are available as internal or external, single or bi-parting, telescopic or curved, with a wide choice of finishes.

For new installation or retro-fitting to existing doors, automatic swing door operators are ideal and where space is at a premium, automatic folding doors come into their own, occupying the minimum of the door opening width and taking up little depth.

Museum and gallery entrances will benefit from the use of revolving doors, which act as an airlock keeping out draughts, noise, dust and dirt.

However, some people with disabilities do not always have the confidence to use revolving doors and where they are installed it is always recommended that pass doors, preferably with a low energy swing door operator, are installed to complement them.

Permanently closed fire doors, for instance in corridors, can present an obstacle for the elderly and people with disabilities, but electro-magnetic hold-open door closers can overcome this problem as they enable the door to be held-open at any angle between 75 degrees -180 degress.

Because the door is equipped with an electro magnetic device, should a smoke or fire alarm be activated, the electro-magnetic hold-open is released and the door will close safely, from whatever open angle it was at.

With door closers it is important that the resistance encountered when opening the door decreases almost instantly with the opening action.

DORMA's ingenious cam-action closer is designed so that the opening force falls away rapidly after the first few degrees resulting in little resistance throughout the opening cycle and the same happens on closing.

This rapidly decreasing opening force is unique to the DORMA cam-action closer and results in much easier and safer door operation for the elderly, children and particularly for people with physical disabilities.

DORMA products in action.

The Eden Project, Cornwall.

DORMA's versatile HSW-EM sliding wall system has proved a major success in helping the Eden Project cope with an overwhelming flood of visitors, nearly 2 million against the anticipated 750,000.

Originally, there were three main areas within the Visitor Centre, the ticket hall, the conference gallery space and the shop.

However, it was soon evident that the areas were not being used to their best advantage.

The ticket hall was over-capacity from 10am to 1pm while the conference gallery space and the shop were virtually empty - then from 1pm to 5pm, the ticket hall would be empty while the shop and conference gallery were overcrowded.

To bring space management to just this type of situation, DORMA's sliding wall system is designed to provide fully glazed partitioning in selected areas when required and then slide away neatly out of sight when a larger space is preferred.

HSW-EM partitions are so versatile they can be installed anywhere - curved panels can be supplied for semi-circular or curved profiles and even the straight panels can be tracked round curves and corners, the system allowing for 90 degree corners to be accommodated.

The Lighthouse, Glasgow.

The Lighthouse is Glasgow's new centre for architecture and design, housed in the old Glasgow Herald offices, a landmark building erected in the 1890's to a design by Scotland's most famous architect, Charles Rennie Macintosh, is a high-quality automatic sliding door from DORMA UK Limited.

Although the interior of the building has been extensively converted, nearly all of the original structure has been retained.

To ensure this, each stage of the project was monitored closely by Historic Scotland.

Project architect Paul Sutton comments: "It was a question of how to reinvent the Herald building, restore it, and yet give it a totally new identity".

The entrance to the building is designed for maximum impact and DORMA were delighted that their new SSTG and ES90 sliding door entrance system was specified to complement the sweeping concrete arc containing the reception area and the stair to the first floor.

An important safety feature of the SSTG automatic hinged sliding door is that both the door and the side panels swing outwards when pushed, with no locks to release beforehand.

This means that doors can be opened safely and easily to allow emergency escape from a building and the entire wall opening can be used as an escape route.

Brighton Museum and Art Gallery.

Brighton Museum and Art Gallery was built in 1873 and houses collections of national importance, its Art Nouveau and Art Deco collections being of special note.

A sliding door with a simulated rippling water effect etched on the glass is equipped with a DORMA Compact Slide operator and is installed at the entrance to one of the main corridors.

The Compact Slide measures just 100mm by 100mm, this is a quarter the size of traditional sliding door operators ensuring that the main focus remains on the etched effect, not the mechanism.

Throughout the building there are DORMA TS73V and TS83 overhead door closers, which feature a 'thinking' back check offering variable resistance according to the speed with which the door is opened.

In addition, DORMA supplied TS73 EMF electronic hold-open door closers.

The Jerwood Centre at the Wordsworth Trust.

The Wordsworth Museum in Grasmere, next to Dove Cottage, the poet's home, houses a unique collection of literary work, including 90% of all surviving manuscripts by William Wordsworth.

There are also collections from other romantic poets and artists.

A new high-specification building, The Jerwood Centre, has been built adjoining the museum to provide storage and conservation facilities for these irreplaceable collections.

Scott Beaven has specified and fitted DORMA's unique cam-action door closer, the TS93, throughout the new centre and AD4000 panic hardware is fitted to all emergency doors.

These full door width touchbar's offer a vastly superior performance to conventional push bars and feature stainless steel deadlocking Pullman type latches.

They are available in a wide range of architectural metal finishes.

BTS80 floor springs also feature at the new centre.

Hitchin Priory, Hertfordshire.

Originally a 14th century Carmelite monastery, Hitchin Priory was rebuilt in the Georgian era as an Adam designed private home and latterly has been developed into a major conference and training venue.

It is in a prime town centre location, yet has its own 19-acre parkland setting and the modern facilities on offer have been carefully designed to integrate with the classically styled Music Room, Monks Walk and Gallery.

The main entrance experiences heavy usage and the ever-reliable DORMA ES90 sliding door operators were chosen as the access solution.

Automatic sliding doors are ideal for this type of application, offering hands free operation in heavy traffic areas, ideal for delegates carrying conference material and briefcases - and of course for any delegates with physical disabilities.

Southwark Cathedral.

New buildings incorporating a restaurant, visitors' centre, seminar rooms and a lending library, are all part of the award winning GBP 10m refurbishment of Southwark Cathedral and DORMA TS83 and TS73V door closers have been installed on many of the internal doors throughout the new buildings.

These ensure better accessibility for the increasing number of visitors to the cathedral.

Andrew Hyde of John Planck, who specified DORMA, comments: "It's important to be able to offer products to our clients that not only meet but exceed the required standards - and DORMA does just that".

"The company also has a very high standard of post - installation service, which is integral to the operations of any job in guaranteeing that completion deadlines are met".

Dulwich Picture Gallery.

Dulwich Picture Gallery, a 19th Century architectural masterpiece by Sir John Soane and Britain's oldest public art gallery, has been refurbished and opened to the public with a new annexe housing a cafe, lecture theatre and a practical art studio.

DORMA's ITS96 concealed cam-action door closers are installed on the large doors leading to the new glass extension at the gallery, providing uninterrupted access for visitors around the gallery and into the cafe.

The ITS96 is installed in the door leaf frame, making it almost invisible and totally discreet within such a classic gallery.

The main entrance doors of the gallery are unusually wide and DORMA's BTS80 EMB electro-magnetic floor springs were specified.

They are designed to hold the doors open in normal use, but in conjunction with a fire and smoke alarm connection, if triggered they release the doors from hold-open and close them automatically in the event of fire.

Sunderland Museum.

Emergency door controls from DORMA are playing an important role at the newly refurbished Museum and Winter Gardens in Sunderland.

Three original galleries are now joined by no fewer than eight new ones, all crammed with exciting hands-on exhibits that tell the story of Sunderland from its prehistoric past through to the present day.

All the emergency doors are fitted with DORMA TL compact door terminals, which automatically unlock the doors in the event of an emergency.

The units are also fitted with a key switch to enable authorised staff to interrupt the current and release the overhead locking device without triggering an alarm.

The DORMA TL compact door terminals at Sunderland are also fitted with a time delay module and when security staff are monitoring the building remotely, it enables them to identify if a door is being tampered with and its location.

"In a public building like Sunderland Museum, fire safety is absolutely paramount and we have to satisfy very stringent requirements" says the Museum's Senior Curator, Neil Sinclair.

"The DORMA system provides us with an efficient and well-proven system which also has a valuable security application".

Broughton House, Kirkcudbright.

Owned by the National Trust for Scotland, Broughton House is a Grade 1 listed eighteenth-century townhouse in the high street at Kirkcudbright and was the home of E.A.

Hornel from 1901 until his death in 1933.

Hornel, who came from an old Kirkcudbright family, studied art in Edinburgh and Antwerp and then became a leading member of an important group of Scottish artists known as the 'Glasgow Boys'.

He settled in the town at the height of his fame and by personal contact and reputation he attracted other artists to the town.

In 1901 he purchased Broughton House and extended it by adding a gallery and studio where examples of his work can still be seen.

His furniture, china etc are still there as is his extensive library - 25,000 books and manuscripts.

Specified by Scott Beaven DORMA TS72 rack and pinion door closers have been installed throughout Broughton House, the units offering flexibility of performance to meet the various demands made of them by the many visitors to the old house.

Adjustable sweep and latching speeds are standard, a hold-open option is available and the TS72 has a selectable closing force as well.

Hendon RAF Museum.

The Royal Air Force Museum at Hendon is Britain's only national museum dedicated wholly to aviation.

Up to 3000 visitors in a day have visited the museum in recent months and the door closers throughout have to work extremely hard and perform reliably.

A combination of DORMA TS73 and TS83 rack and pinion closers were specified by Scott Beaven, with their 'thinking backcheck' feature, which helps protect the door and surrounding area from damage, also 'panic bolts' have been installed for emergency exit purposes.

DORMA's AD4000 full width touchbars are designed with stainless steel deadlocking Pullman type latches and suit virtually any emergency exit installations.

The units offer security, reliability and an aesthetic appearance.

The Museum is situated on the site of the original London Aerodrome, used for the great Hendon Air Shows between the two World Wars.

Five enormous buildings contain over a hundred aircraft, aviation memorabilia, fine art and photographs, covering the history of aviation from early balloon flights to the latest technology.

Recently, the historic Grahame-White Building, which was part of the original Grahame-White Aircraft Factory sited on the old Hendon Aerodrome, was dismantled, moved to the Museum site and completely restored to complement the new 'Milestones of Flight' exhibition which celebrates the 100th anniversary of powered flight and features some of the most important Royal Air Force aircraft, along with classics from the USA, Germany, Japan and France.

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