3000 series concealed door closers from Astra are playing a starring role in making fire doors safe yet stylish at a prestige residential development of an iconic former film studio. Door manufacturer ABL Doors used Astra closers to help create sleek, elegant entrance doors for apartments at Denham Film Studios in Buckinghamshire.
Developers Weston Homes asked doorset manufacturer ABL to supply wide range of cutting edge door designs in the most modern finishes that would complement the development’s retro aesthetic, including 30-minute fire-rated doors for apartment entrances. “It was incredibly important for us to achieve an effective balance of modern functionality and old-style glamour,” says ABL’s MD Andy Williams. “The flat entrance doors needed to be Secured by Design accredited FD-30 fire doors that would function brilliantly yet look refined to suit their surroundings.
We opted for CE-Marked Astra 3000 closers to avid the obtrusive institutional look of an overhead closer.” In its 1940s and 50s heyday, Denham Studios was a thriving film production studio producing classic British films such as Brief Encounter and Great Expectations. The site has now been lovingly developed to provide 224 conversion and new build homes, including 154 one, two and three-bedroom apartments and 70 four and five-bedroom family townhouses.
Features within the new development include a cinema with bar and a community hall/fitness space. The cinema – which was originally used to screen movies to Hollywood directors including Stanley Kubrick, Albert “Cubby” Broccoli and Steven Spielberg – has been refurbished and turned into a cinema theatre and club for residents, while the main Grade II listed building has been converted into 49 apartments.
In keeping with the high specification of the site, sleek aesthetics were a top priority for Weston Homes whose watchword for the development was luxury. This made concealed closers the obvious choice since they are not visible when the door is closed, avoiding the somewhat institutional and ungainly appearance of overhead closers. ABL selected the Astra 3000 series closers because they had worked very successfully with Astra before and because, with full adjustability, they were powerful enough to handle the doors’ weight and width. Every apartment entrance door on the project features an Astra concealed closer.
The Astra 3000 series of fully-controlled concealed door closers are a range of groundbreaking products developed by Astra to offer all the adjustability and control of an overhead closer, even for fire doors. Unlike other concealed closers on the market, the CEMarked Astra 3000 series is fully controlled and adjustable, making it a truly viable alternative to overhead products at a sensible price.
Manufactured in the UK, in four different power sizes with adjustable closing speed and latching action for different size and weights of doors, they feature a unique hydraulic piston assembly designed in-house by Astra. This offers an adjustable, controlled rate of door closure together with a variable ‘snap action’ for overcoming the latch. The closers’ quality design and build makes it perfect for high traffic applications, both commercial and
residential.
Astra is well known for its door closer range including the popular Gibraltar range. The Lancashire-based company can demonstrate many years’ experience in the sector and carries out all of its own R&D in-house. It exports its British door closers across the globe via a network of distributors and partner companies.
