Client St Mary's Church, Northwich
Contractor: Maysand Ltd
Type of works: supply of a new arched glass entrance

The Grade I listed St Mary’s Church in Nantwich has truly embraced 21st century technology, successfully automating new arched glass entrance doors to the south porch by installing a TORMAX iMotion 1401 underfloor door operator.

“The building is widely acknowledged to be one of the finest medieval churches in England today and attracts over 50,000 visitors a year,” explains, Rick Appleton, Fabric Committee Chair at the church. “It was essential to upgrade public access without impairing architectural integrity.” Oldham-based Maysand Ltd, main contractor for a nine-month refurbishment project, followed the architect’s specification to install a TORMAX iMotion 1401 as an invisible solution that is fully compliant with current DDA requirements. In addition to an improved flow of pedestrian traffic, the church has also benefited from a reduction in heat loss from the building.

The iMotion 1401 is mounted in a sealed box in the floor and, as the synchronous motor has no abrading parts to wear out, it delivers exceptional reliability. This has the added advantage of ensuring the doors really do open and close in silence, making it the perfect solution for a hushed environment such as St Mary’s Church.

Safety is of primary importance for the Church where the congregation and visitors includes young children, the elderly as well as wheelchair users. Depending on location and circumstances, the power of the motor and also the spring can be adjusted to suit client-specific requirements, delivering optimum performance regardless of wind loading or pressure differences. Adjustable electronic obstacle recognition ensures user safety whilst opening and closing speeds and hold-open time can all be set via a user-friendly keypad to deliver safe operation depending on pedestrian speed and volume of footfall.

TORMAX underfloor swing door operators have been specified for many locations of architectural significance throughout the UK but perhaps the most impressive challenge was the successful automation of a set of 300kg Canadian-oak doors at the Great Hall, Lincoln’s Inn.