ENTERING AN ERA OF ELEGANCE
Giving the Moderne a contemporary edge while maintaining
the tenets of iconic 1930’s design has been realised in the
redevelopment of a prestigious London building.
No 1 New Oxford Street – formerly known as Commonwealth
House – now has an entrance which echoes its proud heritage,
combining sleek elegant aesthetics with modern convenience.
The automatic circular sliding doors from GEZE UK make quite a
statement, providing an entrance which blends seamlessly into
the curved and streamlined contours of a building which stands
proud, like the prow of a ship, on a site where New Oxford Street
and High Holborn meet at an acute angle.
Unlike the sharp geometrics of the similarly placed Flatiron
building in New York, No 1 New Oxford Street projects a rounded
nose to its edifice, topped off by a modern-faced clock tower
designed by its original architect Henry Philip Cart de Lafontaine
in 1939.
Its new entrance had to meet this exacting vision. A GEZE
Slimdrive SCR was used to provide the light and airy entrance,
flanked by curving glass panels to the side which flow into the
original columns, and topped with a glazed fanlight overhead.
This frontage allowed the sliding doors to be recessed into the
entrance, allowing it to seamlessly flow into a new lobby area.
One of the benefits of the Slimdrive SCR is that it combines high
performance while remaining discreet. It has a low operator
height of just 7 cm and is therefore very unobtrusive. In this case,
the Slimdrive SCR was fitted as freestanding entrance – the 360°
drive solution is usually incorporated into a building’s facade –
but as this entrance was recessed, the installation was adapted to
the bespoke requirements of the design.
A circular canopy and black glass wrap was placed over the
doorway, blending into the metal framework of the frontage.
This included additional detailing by Fleetwood Architectural
Aluminium (FAA) which simulated the art deco style.
The canopy determined where the sensors could be fitted, so
GEZE UK worked with Fleetwood to ensure that the design brief
was met while ensuring that the sensors still performed correctly.
GEZE’s GC 365 sensors were used - combining motion and safety