Utrecht University looked to an access control company headquartered in North Carolina to create a custom 30-foot revolving door.
Boon Edam announces that Utrecht University in the Netherlands has installed a custom-made, TQM manual revolving door at the entrance to the school’s newest addition, the Viktor J. Koningsberger building.
The building was designed to serve as an addition to two other existing buildings: the Minnaert building and the Buys Ballot building.
“All buildings had to be combined into one educational center for the science faculties. We solved that very simply by making a kind of ‘loop’ on the first floor; a circuit that runs through all the buildings. A new building has been added on the corner, and that is what has become the Koningsberger building. Through the ‘walk’ all buildings are now connected, and the students can easily walk from one building to another,” explains Director and Project Architect Joost Ector.
The architect says they needed an entrance that was functional and recognizable but also fit the aesthetic of the rest of the building. This led to Ector choosing Boon Edam’s TQM manual revolving door.
The custom TQM installed at the Koningsberger building is nine meters (29-1/2 feet) high and is constructed almost entirely of glass. Nine-meter high rotating parts were not desirable, so a different solution was chosen, according to the company. A special tall, illuminated cylinder was installed above the revolving door for a distinct appearance.
“Our inspiration were old houses, such as canal houses,” says Ector. “There is sometimes a kind of ‘lantern’ incorporated in the skylight above the front door in these old-fashioned homes. We utilized this in the TQM revolving door. The cylinder was pulled upwards, and an illuminated element was manufactured. This constructed feature can be seen from both the outside and inside and serves as a beacon of light in the evening to help guide and locate the entrance.”
This article originally ran in Campus Safety’s sister publication, Security Sales & Integration.
