The multi-million pound refurbishment of Oxford’s iconic Ashmolean Museum has included the creation of a new and visually stunning entranceway, which utilises frameless revolving glass doors, together with two matching pass doors, all manufactured and installed by Record and Blasi UK.
According to the lead design consultant and conservation specialist on the project, Rick Mather Architects, the size of the Record/Blasi doors and screen, relative to their frameless appearance, makes the overall effect particularly satisfactory. Record and Rick Mather Architects have previously worked together on Corpus Christie College as well as other landmark projects.
One of the architects on the project for Rick Mather Architects, Stuart Cade commented: “Because the Charles Cockerell building, dating from 1845, is Grade I listed, English Heritage had to approve our proposals, with the entrance door being one of the main areas of interest to them. The guidance in such situations is that the intervention should be as simple and uncluttered as possible, so the transparency of the door installation ensured we did not detract from the architecture. The large expanse of clear glass achieved with the Record/Blasi design was absolutely key.”
The automated revolving door stands 4,100mm tall and is 2,200mm in diameter, flanked by the pair of metre-wide glazed pass doors which are also automatic. The cylindrical enclosure to the revolving door is formed from four separate curved sections; each one 800mm wide. These effectively create a draught seal while ensuring the feeling of transparency is maintained; along with views of the Grade I listed entrance interior. Above the doors themselves, Record/Blasi has completed the construction of this stylish glazed draught lobby using a single section of glass measuring 4.6m in width.
While the leafs of the main door are formed from 12mm toughened glass, the ceiling to the entrance drum features 18m thick laminated glass. The revolving drive mechanism and automatic gearing for the swing-door operation has been concealed in the space that exists between the floor slab and the vaulted ceiling that subtends the entranceway. The drive for the revolving door had to be placed offset to the pivot as there wasn't sufficient depth in the slab at the centre of the turnstile.