When Ripon Cathedral decided to install a new glass porch, it was essential the project was as finely crafted and durable as the historic building itself.
Two years on and the resulting Narthex Entrance has seen nearly 200,000 visitors as well as regular worshippers pass through its automatic glass doors, which feature GEZE UK’s Slimdrive SL automatic operators.
The brief was to create a welcoming new entrance that would transform the Cathedral, flooding it with light and allowing people to see directly inside. GEZE UK was commissioned by façade specialist DML on behalf of the project architects and specifiers, Caroe Architecture Ltd, to provide door operators for two single-leaf doors positioned either side of the lobby to complement the new porch’s elegant design, yet create a safe automatic entrance for a building with an extremely high level of footfall. With its slim design and a drive unit height of just 7cm, the Slimdrive SL automatic sliding operator was the perfect solution for the job.
Designed specifically for high volume traffic, the Slimdrive SL is especially suited to glass facades. It is powered by a DC motor, designed to ensure years of low wear and high performance. It is virtually silent in operation making it ideal for a place of worship.
The operating system has been programmed to allow visitors in by one door and out by the other, thus controlling the flow of people through the Cathedral. To complete the look, the operators feature a bronze finish carefully matched to the architectural bronze metalwork of the Narthex Entrance.
Canon Keith Punshon said, “The entrance is the most amazing transformation and has worked exactly as we wanted it to, allowing us to engage with the community.”
