Highs and lows of student life

GEZE products are giving students access to the highs and lows of student life in a development which incorporates a 21-storey tower block and three low-rise residences.

Chamberlain Hall – part of University of Birmingham’s Vale Village scheme – saw the replacement of the 50-year-old Eden Town, known as High Hall and its associated wings – with new purpose-built accommodation.

It provides a home-from-home for 725 students in either en-suite study bedrooms in clusters of five or six, which share a kitchen/lounge – or self-contained studios.

GEZE products were used throughout the development. Every bedroom and circulation door, more than 800 in total, is fitted with a TS 3000 EC. This surface mounted door closer has a low opening force, requiring less energy to open it, making it a great choice for an educational building.

It adheres to strictest safety standards, and not only features an adjustable hydraulic latching action, closing force and closing speed, but also incorporates a sleek guide rail rather than an obtrusive arm to make it safer choice for residents.

Kitchen Doors were fitted with the TS 4000 EFS – a pinion toothed door closer with free swing arm function which enables people to go through the door while applying little physical force once the door has been initially opened. It has an electro hold-open function which ensures safe closing of the door in an event of a fire.

TS 5000 E closers were fitted to lobby doors. They are fitted with electro-mechanical hold-open devices which are released in the event of a fire closing the door safely. The TS 5000 E is suitable for doors up to 1400mm in width and has adjustable closing force, size EN 2-6, adjustable closing speed, hydraulic latching action and hydraulic back check.

Fifteen GEZE Slimdrive EMD-F electro-mechanical swing door operators were fitted to entrance doors and rooms for disabled students.

They are almost silent in operation, with the capacity to move large and heavy, single leaf doors with ease. The Slimdrive EMD-F operators are extremely durable which mean that they are the ideal low-maintenance solution for areas of heavy footfall such as student accommodation.

Students living in the tower benefit from lake-side views across the Vale, a Grade 2 historic park and garden, and those on the upper floors enjoy vistas right across the city. The three low rise blocks have been designed to sit at an angle maximising views across the Vale.

Said Andy Howland, GEZE’s director of sales and marketing: “A range of GEZE products has been used throughout this development to provide the ideal solution to a selection of doors that all need to perform different uses, in different areas of the building. The end result provides University of Birmingham students with quality, purpose-built accommodation, which is surrounded by nature whilst being in the heart of the city.”

University of Birmingham project manager, Daniel Holmes, said “It is always important in such a critical University project that we work with suppliers we can rely on. The GEZE products fit the bill and we are pleased with how they have performed.”