Durham Town Hall / St. Andrew's Church

The UK’s leading manufacturer of door and window control systems, GEZE UK, is taking innovation to the next level, combining its hidden under floor operator, the TSA 160 UFO, with a surface mounted guide rail to use with valuable, listed doors.

The new TSA 160 UFO-G has been developed to meet the needs of architects refurbishing ancient buildings or iconic architecture and is ideally suited for arched and curved doors, where automatic access and preservation are both essential. This updated model combines the elegance of an under floor automatic operator that maintains the original door surrounds, with a surface mounted guide rail to avoid altering the doors themselves.

GEZE UK developed the TSA 160 UFO-G while working at Durham Town Hall and St Andrew’s Church in Penrith. Facing the same challenge, GEZE UK’s technical team developed a new solution that suited both sites. At Durham Town Hall, the impressive gothic stone archways on the building and listed oak doors made it impossible to install standard door drives, so a highly durable under floor operator with an external guide rail was the perfect solution.

St Andrews Church in Penrith is an historic church on the Cumbrian tourist trail, which needed to provide good access for local worshippers and tourists whilst maintaining the ornate stonework of the grand entrance and without altering the listed original doors. Ideally suited to retro fitting in period buildings and busy tourist hotspots with high footfall, the TSA 160 UFO-G is easy to install and maintain and can easily operate heavy listed doors up to 120kg in weight.

The electro-hydraulic operator can be used with all types of swing doors and at both sites, the operator was finished in brass, ensuring it was as attractive as possible and in keeping with style of the building, while providing durable, whisper-quiet automatic access. Waterproofed to IP 64, the TSA 160 UFO-G also allows for DDA compliance in accordance with BS8300 and is easily accessible for servicing whilst being virtually tamper-proof.

GEZE UK’s operations director Paul Ryan said: “GEZE UK is well known for its innovative approach and this is an excellent example of a product that just keeps on developing. By tailoring the operator to the specific needs of the site, rather than forcing a fit, we are able to create new, exciting solutions that can be applied elsewhere too.

“In both these applications, the new TS 160 UFO-G combines elegance, functionality and reliability while enhancing and complementing its ancient surroundings. It’s great to see that our technology, advice and tailored solutions were able to help developers complete a sympathetic refurbishment and make both the Durham Town Hall and St Andrews Church, accessible for all.”