Education sector solutions from Integrated Doorsets
Integrated Doorsets recognises that in order to support the Government’s commitment to the Priority School Building Programme a different approach is required. Close cooperation across the design and build team and a new emphasis on flexible and innovative product solutions, speeds up the construction process. Buildings for education, be they universities, colleges, schools or student accommodation, have their own unique challenges – with a requirement to be hard wearing and functional, yet providing an aesthetic environment for their users and occupants. In addition, there are numerous legislative obligations that must be met covering fire performance, noise reduction and accessibility. Combined with the need for minimal life cycle costs, this makes the education sector one of the most challenging environments for specifiers, installers and manufacturers to supply into. Refurbishment works in particular have their own unique demands, whether configuring products to existing openings, coordinating with existing products, or delivering within tight timescales to avoid disruption to the academic process.
To meet these challenges, Integrated Doorsets, together with its supply chain partners, is continually developing its product solutions to ensure that they not only meet the demanding British and European test standards but are faster to install and provide reduced whole life maintenance costs, as well as having the strength and durability needed to cope with intensive use throughout the building’s life. Durability and performance are invariably key considerations for education sector projects. Here, Integrated Doorset’s Enduracor® doorsets have been proven extensively to withstand the most challenging environments over many years. Their stile and rail construction, with hardwood reinforcement where required, ensures they can withstand the most arduous applications and provide severe duty performance for the most extreme requirements. Fire protection and noise containment are also essential functional needs and Integrated Doorsets has extensive 3rd party accreditation and test evidence to provide fully compliant fire doors up to FD120 and acoustic performance up to 46RwdB.
Whilst compliance with the functional specification is the primary consideration, aesthetic options are increasingly important to provide pleasant working, living and learning environments in the sector. Integrated Doorsets can provide a virtually unlimited range of facings and finishes to suit the most demanding of aesthetic briefs – from traditional wood veneers to highly durable laminates and PVC available in a wide range of colours and also with the option for the addition of bespoke graphics and decoration.
Some special requirements for the education sector include the provision of sliding, folding door solutions where functionality, access and space are important considerations. Integrated Doorsets’ Pivette system is the ideal solution providing a bi-folding door which minimises swing areas whilst maximising floor space. Finger protection is also a key consideration, particularly in primary schools and nurseries – here our Sentinel hand and finger protection solution has been extensively proven on numerous projects to achieve outstanding and reliable performance without compromising design integrity. Ironmongery requirements for education are also particularly onerous, requiring high levels of durability and performance but ensuring easy and safe access and security. Integrated Doorsets can provide solutions for all situations – including fully automated door opening systems and bespoke access control solutions either for individual doors or fully networked. Access control systems are widely specified for student accommodation and allow programming of access from individual rooms to an entire campus.
The vast experience of Integrated Doorsets has been proven in numerous education projects of all sizes. Recent projects have included 2,000 doorsets for the new University of Northampton campus , Special Education Needs Schools in Coventry and London and numerous student accommodation developments nationally. Each has required a unique solution which has been developed using our core philosophy of ‘Listen. Plan. Build. Deliver.’ to fully understand the clients’ requirements and to deliver the right products, fully compliant, on-time and on-budget.