March 2012

Eye catching access at the EDF Energy London Eye

A combination of Dor-O-Matic concealed all glass automatic swing doors and glass manual doors will now welcome around 3 million visitors a year to the EDF Energy London Eye’s ticket office.  

The doors, metalwork and specially designed curved toplight complete a refurbishment of the existing entrances. These were supplied and installed in their entirety by Ingersoll Rand Security Technologies, one of very few companies which offers concealed all glass automatic doors.

The EDF Energy London Eye is the top paid for visitor attraction in the UK. This means it is imperative that the doors at both the front entrance and the more accessible ground level entrance are able to cope easily and safely with the huge pressures of a very heavy daily visitor footfall.  Two new pairs of manually opening doors have been installed in the front entrance while concealed all glass automatic swing doors service the side entrance.  This entrance is fully compliant with the Equalities Act, giving easy access to all including disabled visitors and those with pushchairs.

As the London Eye ticket office is housed in the listed Riverside Building on the South Bank, aesthetics formed a very important part of this scheme. Consequently the extensive use of glass and minimal metalwork is designed to maximise the welcoming character of the entrances and provide a bright, airy and contemporary feel to this iconic venue.

Mark Robinson, EDF Energy London Eye Technical Operations Manager, comments “Although only a refurbishment of existing doors, this posed some challenging design and specification issues. The combination of automatic doors and manual doors in all glass concealed format with additional curved toplight was something that only a few companies could supply and we are really happy with the end result. The install went smoothly with a minimum of disruption and the doors are proving very capable in coping with the high numbers of visitors we receive on a daily basis.”

All Ingersoll Rand Security Technologies’ doors are manufactured in the UK and the company offers a complete chain of custody throughout the specification process. This includes everything from national sales support, design, manufacture and supply through to installation and on-going service backed by a national network of installation and service engineers, all trained to BS7036 standards.