GEZE provides preventive fire protection in Wakefield Town Hall
British building traditions with state-of-the-art building technology: Modernisation gives the Victorian aesthetic of the Wakefield Town Hall a new functional quality. GEZE UK Ltd is supporting convenience and preventive fire protection in the Town Hall with tailor-made door and safety technology.
Door convenience and security in the historic city palace
Wakefield’s listed building Town Hall is glowing with new radiance. Following its modernisation, the Town Hall in this city of 60,000 inhabitants in the county of Yorkshire has opened its doors for citizens, weddings, receptions and town council meetings. Local authority civil servants now also work in a fresh and more comfortable environment. The renovation work was based around the original aesthetic of the Victorian building, completed in 1880. Modern building standards were sensitively applied in order to retain the interior’s authentic flair.
Glass sliding doors offer accessible convenience
Modern door and security technology for authentic door design.
Two double-leaf automatic glass sliding doors have been installed in the previously large open archways to the entrance area, to create access to the waiting area and the individual offices. The entrance area is divided by the new vestibule, but remains bright and transparent. Fitted with Slimdrive SL NT sliding door systems, the new door solutions, tested to the UK Equality Act and the British Standard BS 8300, provide barrier-free ease of access, emergency exit protection and energy efficiency by keeping the cold and draught out. In order to interfere with the architecture as little as possible, the slim Slimdrive SL NT drives, which are only seven centimetres high, were colour-coordinated with the dark wood trim of the door arch. An aesthetic refinement is the central patterning of the glass leaves. The squares etched into the glass reflect the coffered decor of the historic stucco ceiling and skylights. GEZE UK realised this automatic sliding door solution in a long-established collaboration with Laidlaw Door System Installations.
Modern fire protection doors with an authentic door design
Automatic glass sliding doors newly divide the Town Hall entrance area.
Automatic swing doors fit perfectly into the historic door substance in the entries to each upper floor. They serve as examples of how combining GEZE automatic swing door drives with the craftsmanship and tradition of Longden Doors Ltd. can create authentic new designs with the aesthetics of a Victorian door. The fanlights with their lead holders were also recreated in keeping with the originals, and implemented in the doors as a continuation of the windows with glazed bars. Brass-coated drive casings on the swing door drives, co-ordinated to match the fitting design of the surrounding doors, make the new 'old' door design perfect.
Preventive fire protection through multifunctional door systems
Two double-leaf automatic swing doors, designed as fire protection door and fire closer door, guide visitors and officials to each upper floor. Fitted with Slimdrive EMD-F swing door drives in a sleek 7 cm design, they offer fire protection and accessibility in one. They close automatically in the event of a fire, and provide a safe fire protection closer. The intumescent material between the door frame and the door leaf also swells up, ensuring a safe seal against smoke gases. The heavy wooden doors have been tested as fire protection doors, with fire resistance of 120 minutes, and hold the Certifire Certificate of Approval CF 860. Thanks to servo support, the doors can also easily be opened manually in any situation. All movement parameters, such as opening and closing speed or hold-open time, can be set individually depending on the user.
Most stringent security, fire safety and design demands
'Discreet or invisible' was the architects' uncompromising demand when it came to the technical functionality of the artistically finished swing doors. As with the glass sliding doors in the entrance area, the door drives on the landing doors are integrated extremely discreetly between the door frames and fanlights. The Slimdrive EMD-F security solution is perfect for slim profiles and restricted spaces. The smoke switch, which is normally located outside the door drive, is integrated in the drive cover. The electrical holding magnets managed by the access control system were also fully integrated in the door frames. Authorised persons are granted access to the security-sensitive meeting rooms in the building by means of key tags with non-contact readers.
