When it came to the specification of the ironmongery for the new £6m West Centre healthcare facility in Glasgow, exceptional performance was of utmost importance.

To ensure the efficient and secure closing of doors, vital in modern healthcare facilities, door closers and touch bars from DORMA, the global market leader of door controls, automatics, glass and movable walls, were chosen.

Built for NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde, the three-storey building has been awarded the Glasgow Institute of Architects Design Award for the healthcare category. It offers a one-stop-shop of health and social care services for children and young people up to 18 years of age, including a nursery day-care centre, family resource centre and departments of child and family psychiatry.

Designed by architects Anderson Bell + Christie and built by main contractor Ogilvie Construction, the West Centre in Drumchapel serves approximately 250,000 residents from Glasgow and West Scotland. With regular footfall expected, and with visitors of all ages, it was imperative that the building’s internal doors provided safe, secure and reliable access. Due to their constant use, products with proven performance were essential. With this in mind, Anderson Bell + Christie specified DORMA’s TS 72 VBC door closers, as well as AD 4000 touch bars for the building’s fire exits.

The Glasgow East Branch of George Boyd Architectural Ironmongery specified and supplied some 60 DORMA TS 72 VBC door closers for installation on the building’s internal commercial timber doorsets, (which were also specified and supplied by George Boyd). Specified in satin stainless steel finish, the compact, easy-action door closers offer outstanding performance, durability and versatility.

The ‘thinking backcheck’ feature ensures that when doors are opened at speed with too powerful a force, the TS 72 VBC closer responds by resisting in equal measure to safely decelerate the door, preventing damage to the door and surrounding wall. With a simple installation process, the multi-function, multi-purpose TS 72 VBC closer can be fitted to virtually any door, with door leaf fixing on pull side and door or transom fixing on the push side.

The DORMA TS 72 VBC rack-and-pinion door closer provides an adjustable closing force of EN 2 – 4, in two independent ranges, to ensure the optimum closing speed for door types up to 1100mm wide. It is third party tested and CE Marked to BS EN 1154, and is CERTIFIRE approved for fire doors. Combining full certification, a simple installation process and exceptional performance for a range of door sizes, the TS 72 VBC door closers are ideal for a wide range of projects in the public sector.

George Boyd also specified and supplied six DORMA AD 4000 touch bars to deliver an elegant, and stylish yet easy to operate, reliable and safe operation of the building’s fire exits. Combining a heavy-duty wrought steel chassis with DORMA’s solid polished stainless steel touch bar, the AD 4000 is strong enough to guarantee protection against unauthorised entry whilst allowing easy use for emergency access. The AD 4000 is third party tested and CE Marked to BS EN 1125, the harmonised European standard for panic exit devices.

Now complete and open to the public, the West Centre in Drumchapel, is a stylish new building, with high quality DORMA door closers and touch bars installed throughout, it is a shining example of what can be achieved with the high specification of the products and materials used in a detailed construction process.