A case study of transom door closers and pull handles as installed at Leyton Mount, a five-storey mixed use building in Bournemouth. The site is a crescent-shaped development with 62 dwellings and a projecting lower ground floor with commercial space and a café, part of regeneration in the seaside town.
The Alpro Architectural Hardware transom closers are being installed on doors made by Poole-based Abbey Southern. The closers are a means of hydraulically controlling the opening and closing of aluminium doors. Builders and glaziers benefit from the ability to adjust the latching and closing force created by the hydraulic valve according to the weight and height of individual doors as well as type of usage. Precise adjustment of closing force is vital at a site such as Leyton Mount which has a varied user base.
Transom closers are contained within the transom header bar of a door. They are the product firm says suited to use at premium developments such as Leyton Mount where the design by architect Terence O’Rourke must not be compromised. Aesthetic concerns are also apparent in the specification of Alpro Impressionist 304-grade stainless steel pull door handles as used across the complex.
Civil works have been by residential construction and social housing specialists Lovell. The building will accelerate regeneration of the Horseshoe Common area of Bournemouth. Funding includes a £5m grant from the Homes and Communities Agency’s ‘Get Britain Building’ loan and equity fund to housebuilders.
Keith Parry, Sales Director at Alpro, said: “Our transom closers are designed for durability and have been tested independently at 250,000 double-action cycles. Many of our products are made of aluminium or, as in the case of the closers and pull door handles at Leyton Mount, are designed to be used on aluminium doors.
“Aluminium is a metal that is easily and endlessly recycled without quality loss and often within six weeks, a practice that is in accord with the sustainable building practices used throughout the Leyton Mount project. It’s gratifying that the carbon footprint of the project has been optimized in many ways. This is a brownfield site and Dorset-based suppliers like ourselves have been used wherever possible.”
About Abbey Southern
Abbey Southern fabricates aluminium and uPVC doors, windows and curtain walling. The company serves end-users mainly from the educational and housing association sectors. Abbey Southern supports a client base of about 150 independent window companies and installers. Founded by Abbas Mazrae, it operates throughout southern England and into the Midlands.
About Alpro
Alpro are based in Poole, Dorset. The company’s range of access control and door hardware products includes deadlocks, deadlatches, cabinet locks, shearlocks, cylinders, transom door closers, waterproof keypads, and infrared proximity switches.
