The design concept of the new Alder Hey Children's "Hospital in the Park" was inspired by children and is unique and instantly recognisable. It has captured the imagination of children, parents, staff and the wider NHS. Axis Flo-Motion® doors were designed specifically for this hospital to help bring the architect's vision into reality. Three quarters of patients will be in single rooms rather than Nightingale wards and there's an outdoor balcony overlooking the park on each floor. The importance of light and airiness was absolutely vital to the whole design concept and this meant the doors for each of the patient's rooms had to be very special. Each had to be large for ease of access for beds and equipment, glazed for brightness and airiness, have privacy blinds for examinations or just occasional solitude, and finally they had to be easily opened and closed by a child and with no power assistance.
SUCCESSFUL DEVELOPMENT
Axis Automatic Entrance Systems Ltd were able to develop a new concept and design for a manual door which satisfied all the critical architectural and operational requirements specified by the architects, BDP. The doorsets were originally specified to meet a force of 22.5N or less and the original prototype with a door leaf weighing 135kg, just achieved this. Once production quality components were employed, the first Flo-Motion® sliding door installed on site achieved a mean average force of 10.1N.
MULTI AWARD WINNING
Flo-Motion® doors have won 4 prestigious awards. Firstly, Laing O'Rourke's 2015 Construction North Award for Innovation, followed by the IHEEM 2015 Product Innovation Award. This was followed by the Building Better Healthcare Best Internal Building Product 2015 and in 2016, the European Healthcare Design Award for Innovation for Quality Improvement.
INSTALLATION
Axis manufactured and installed nineteen variations of the Flo-Motion® sliding doors, from a standard single sliding door leaf only to a 7500mm glazed screen incorporating a sliding door. Doorset heights varied from 2400mm to 2700mm high.
