STACKING SLIDING DOORS: CASE STUDY
Recently, the Aluform team supplied a series of stacking sliding doors to the Agnes Shea High School in Taylor, ACT. This case study will detail the following:
- The reasons for using stacking sliders
- The benefits of having multiple points of entry and exit in a classroom
- And the features of the Series 5000 Stacking system.
1. REASONS FOR USING STACKING SLIDING DOORS
Now part of the requirements in EDIS – the document all ACT public schools are built in accordance with – the Series 5000 Stacking Sliding door system was selected by the architects – CK Architecture – for a variety of reasons.
First, the Series 5000 system is heavy-duty. This is a must-have in all school environments, which are known for high levels of traffic and usage.
Secondly, the system has been engineered to allow for up to four moving panels, each 1200mm wide. This enables extreme design flexibility, and the capability to close off and divide up large spaces, like the classrooms at the Agnes Shea School.
Third, the system is made up of glazed sliding doors, which leverages glass to create a open, light-filled area. It has been proven that access to natural light is beneficial for learning, and the stacking sliding door system allows for this, while also maintaining physical separation between classrooms.
2. BENEFITS OF MULTIPLE ACCESS POINTS
Although brilliant for use in large spaces, sliding stacking doors aren’t always compliant for disabled access, and hence at the Agnes Shea School, the doors were installed as a secondary point of access and egress. They were always placed alongside a swinging hinged timber door, which acted as the primary access point.
A significant benefit of the multiple access points strategy is the ease in which the rooms can be evacuated. In the case of a fire or other emergency, the students and teachers can remove themselves from the rooms quickly and easily.
Additionally, the hinged doors (primary access points) are always installed to comply with the disabled standard of >20nm force required to open. This enhances the accessibility and the inclusivity of the spaces, enabling disabled people to move freely in and out.
3. SERIES 5000 SYSTEM FEATURES
Series 5000 Stacking Sliding Doors are based off the standard Aluform Series 5000 bottom-rolling system: a heavy-duty system that can be used with doors up to 3 metres high and weighing 200kg.
Particularly, the stacking system features:
- A unique, custom-designed interlocking seal
- Versatile head track that can be mounted either under the ceiling or recessed
- Capacity for corner-meeting and T-shaped configurations
- Up to five panels (one fixed, four sliding)