Using modern technology to improve accessibility without detracting from their character; automatic doors can transform historic buildings.
Introducing 21st century features to traditional architecture can pose challenges for automatic door installers, especially since many historic buildings are listed.
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This makes it particularly important to ensure any additions don’t impact the property’s traditional heritage. It becomes a fine balancing act to provide easy access to historic buildings in the most discreet way possible.
Buildings that are open to the public, where historic architecture must be subtly upgraded to meet the requirements of the Equality Act 2010, must be enhanced to ensure easy access for people with a disability.
Automatic access can help improve the overall experience of public buildings such as historic hotels and restaurants, heritage attractions, stately homes and other historic properties.
Problems with access to historic buildings
Studies show there’s still a lot of work to be done in making sure heritage buildings offer access for all. In April 2024, new research on the experiences of disabled people trying to access heritage buildings said adapting the premises represented a “significant challenge” due to their listed status.
Having been designed in an era when disabled access wasn’t generally considered, they represented a “particularly problematic” environment for someone with a disability. People aged between 22 and 79 with limited mobility were asked about their own experiences of visiting historic buildings. They used either a manual or motorised wheelchair or a walker.
The majority said an inaccessible entrance to the building, combined with poor access to shops, restaurants and toilets, had often spoiled their visit. Some respondents admitted an inaccessible entrance, combined with no ground-floor toilet facilities, had prevented them from visiting certain places.
They also experienced feelings of “physical and social discomfort”, first at being unable to access the building due to their disability and then embarrassment because they were excluded, and people were looking at them.
How can automatic doors help disabled access?
Fitting an automatic door to any building is a key factor when it comes to enabling disabled and elderly people to enter with ease. It means those who use wheelchairs and walking frames, the elderly, families with children in pushchairs and frail visitors who can’t open heavy manual doors can enjoy the same access benefits as those more able-bodied.
Automatic doors are a modern convenience that the public expect when it comes to hotels, museums, historic buildings, villas and other heritage attractions. The key to installing them is ensuring an invisible design is used that doesn’t change the perception of the building.
For example, a frameless design can be used that makes a minimal impact on the entrance and appearance of the premises. Essential profiles can be created specifically for rigorous or minimal locations, while profiles and colours can be designed on request for a well-defined frame in keeping with the building’s existing design.
Automatic door safety
Automatic doors can also ensure a swift and efficient evacuation of the building in the event of an emergency, thanks to an uninterrupted power supply which will cover a short-term loss of mains electricity. This means the automatic doors will operate during a power cut, with the UPS providing a trusted backup solution.
In terms of fire safety, automatic doors are revolutionary. Sliding doors that comply with standard BS EN 16005 have an emergency battery incorporated into the system, so even in the event of a fire, they will continue working. They can be connected to the fire alarm and will open as soon as it’s activated.
They can also be programmed to stay closed for smoke control once people have been safely evacuated, if leaving them open adds oxygen to fuel the fire. Whichever option is best for safety reasons, open or closed, you can programme the doors accordingly.
With automatic doors having presence sensors on both sides, this allows everyone to access and exit the building safely without risk of the doors closing on them. They also enhance security in the event of a threat by remaining in a closed position when necessary to deter unwelcome opportunists from entering the premises.
Meeting access challenges
The Historic England organisation has produced a guide, Nowhere out of Bounds – Disability Access and Adaptation, to highlight mobility and access issues, explaining how architecture and design need to meet today’s challenges.
The first buildings in the UK with disabled access in mind were designed as a result of a newly qualified architect, Selwyn Goldsmith, who had polio, taking this into account when he joined the sector in 1956 at the age of 24. He highlighted the “institutional discrimination” prevalent in Britain’s buildings at the time, challenging the way in which disabled people were unable to use many of them, including those using wheelchairs or who had difficulty moving around public premises.
His guidelines, Designing for the Disabled, were published in 1963. It was the first information on disabled access to buildings and the document was immediately adopted to teach architects and council planners. His guidelines are still relevant today.
Some major British heritage buildings have since been adapted to allow access for disabled visitors, including World Heritage Site, the Tower of London, in 2004.
Today, Historic England is working with experts from Newcastle University and Exeter University on a diversity project, Unlocking Landscapes Network. One of its remits is to improve access for all to heritage buildings and landscapes.