No mystery in DORMA specification at Agatha Christie

As part of a major £5.4m restoration project by the National Trust, DORMA door controls have been installed in the Visitor Centre of Greenway, the former South Devon holiday home of crime writer Dame Agatha Christie – or Mrs Mallowan as she was known locally.

Situated between Paignton and Brixham, in a village called Galmpton, Greenway has been an important Devonshire property for over 500 years and was gifted by Agatha Christie’s family to the National Trust in 2000. The 300-acre estate comprises Greenway House and garden, Lower Greenway Farm and adjoining parkland and woodland. The gardens have been open to the public since 2000, but this is the first time that Grade II listed Greenway House itself has been accessible to the public.

The DORMA closers have been supplied by specialist architectural ironmongers Wessex Ironmongery Ltd, based at nearby Dartington, and are installed throughout the Visitor Centre, including at the main entrance, as well as upstairs in the main Greenway house where DORMA TS93 EMF closers have been used.

Chris Blacker Director at Wessex Ironmongery, comments: “The TS93 is a versatile and elegant system that provides the ideal architectural solution for a high profile project like Greenway. The more conventional TS68 and TS71 rack and pinion closers have been fitted to the less demanding traffic areas of the house and visitor centre, which is one of the reasons we work well with DORMA, as with their product range you always have the right option to meet different requirements.”

In the high traffic areas, the DORMA TS93 has once again proved its capability at Greenway. Unlike conventional rack and pinion closers, the TS93 cam-action closer has a unique linear drive mechanism and heart shaped cam which means that opening forces well below 30N can be achieved when adjusted to size EN3, the power requirement for fire doors.

As a result, when the door is opened the opening force falls away rapidly after the first few degrees resulting in little resistance throughout the opening cycle. Yet it will always ensure full and correct closure of the door – third party test evidence to support this is available. The result is a much easier and safer door operation.