Automatic Doors Lean Toward the Future At Des Moines Area Community College

DES MOINES, Iowa-May 8, 2003… On the West Campus of the Des Moines Area Community College (DMACC), a unique building design called for a unique automatic door solution. To meet the need for automatic sliding doors that could operate reliably on an angle, Dor-O-Matic made a few innovative changes to its heavy-duty doors.

Because the new West Campus is DMACC's technology-focused campus, RDG Architects, of Des Moines, gave it a look that matches its forward-looking mission. Dave Dulaney, of RDG, says his firm's relationship with DMACC goes back about 20 years. In designing the Synerg.e™ Center, RDG faced the challenge of creating a building that truly reflected its mission.

The facility was designed with the varying needs of today's learning customers in mind. Its campus environment is one that brings people and technology together with the purpose of creating more effective learning solutions. According to DMACC, the college is focused on bringing the classroom to the student, where they want it, when they want it, and how they want it…portable and on-the-go. This calls for such innovations as media-rich e-content, a wireless infrastructure, state-of-the-art lab facilities, and a relaxed, casual environment that provides a variety of new learning opportunities.

Architecturally, one of the building's hallmark features is an outward-slanting face that has "forward-looking" written all over it. Getting the proper angle on the curtain walls was easy enough, given the capabilities of the industry. Getting sliding doors that would operate at the same angle proved to be another matter.

Angular Doors Get Extra Design Features

Automatic sliding doors typically are designed to be installed vertically and operate in a horizontal plane. For the Synerg.e Center, the architect included several doorways in the curtain walls, which slanted in a forward-looking posture. The problem was that no automatic door system was designed to operate successfully under these conditions.

Kevin Masters, Dor-O-Matic design engineer, explains, "The architect needed to determine whether anyone offered an automatic sliding door that could be installed at a 12 degree angle. Most manufacturers had already rejected the idea, but Dor-O-Matic saw the possibilities and agreed to develop a design that could handle the unusual angle."

Unlike a conventional automatic door, which is supported at the top and requires only a guide at the bottom, these doors needed additional support and guiding because of their weight and the angle at which they are required to function. Masters explains, "Conventional friction-type guides would have rubbed on one side, so the doors needed guide wheels. Dor-O-Matic offered a side guide with a wheel but also designed bottom guides with wheels that help support the door's weight." The design uses neoprene wheels with bearings, much like the wheels used on roller blades. These wheels are concealed in the side panel, and the door rides on the wheels. A plate that resembles a kick plate acts as a surface to support the door.

One concern was the size and weight of the single sliding doors, which measure more than nine feet high and almost 10 feet wide. Based on Dor-O-Matic's 96K Series, because its heavy carrier would provide the needed support, the door's upper carriers also were angled so the weight they support is vertical, rather than at an angle. This helps to reduce the vector components of the forces acting on them and promote longer life for the door system.

Another point that had to be considered was the effect of the doors' angle on fire code compliance. Masters notes," We got a variance from the fire marshal, and the doors do not have to break away because they are not in the egress path. The building has labeled exits that are located on another wall." He adds that the angle doors are equipped with card access systems authorized individuals can enter outside of normal hours.

As part of the building's design, the interior vestibule doors were set at the same angle as the exterior doors. Masters says, "Even though they are not in the curtain wall, they are set in a gypsum wall that also is at an angle to match the outside wall."

Once the design was established, the manufacturer built a prototype and tested it for 100,000 cycles. Representatives of the curtain wall supplier visited the Dor-O-Matic factory to see the prototype being tested. With only a few minor revisions, the design was finalized, and an order was placed for four of the doors, plus four conventional automatic doors and stationary sidelites for each.

Based on the test results and its confidence in the design, Dor-O-Matic provided a two-year warranty on the doors. Now, close to the end of the warranty period, the doors continue to function as anticipated. In addition to being reliable, they are quiet. A spokesperson for the college termed their operation "a wisp."