Case studies

Revolving doors and preventive fire protection at the ÖAMTC in Vienna

The new headquarters of the Austrian automobile, motorcycle, and touring club ÖAMTC in Vienna is a symbol of mobility and safety. The building offers efficiency and quick communication every day – implemented with modern technology by GEZE. Revolving doors, fire protection doors, and automatic window openers ensure the smooth flow of people, natural ventilation, and preventive fire protection.

Transparent and open – the ÖAMTC Mobility Centre in Vienna

Bright and barrier-free with modern revolving doors by GEZE. Photo: Sigrid Rauchdobler for GEZE GmbH

Bright and barrier-free with modern revolving doors by GEZE. © Sigrid Rauchdobler / GEZE GmbH

Mobility and speed are the inspiration for the architecture of the impressive new headquarters of the Austrian Automobile, Motorcycle and Touring Club ÖAMTC. The 76 million euro new building stands at one of Vienna's most important traffic axes, the South-East tangent of the A23 city motorway.

The Vienna architects Pichler & Traupmann realised the idea in a curved, circular and star-shaped architecture with open and transparent room connections. All key areas are arranged around a vertical axis. The importance of fast interaction and exchange between the areas can be seen in the central, transparent atrium too, with its circular balustrades, which are offset to each other and stacked upwards.

Eye-catching element and ‘hub’ in the foyer – revolving doors by GEZE

Automatic revolving door systems from the TSA 325 NT range in the ÖAMTC Mobility Centre in Vienna. Photo: Sigrid Rauchdobler for GEZE GmbH

Automatic revolving door systems from the TSA 325 NT range in the ÖAMTC Mobility Centre in Vienna. © Sigrid Rauchdobler / GEZE GmbH

GEZE revolving doors at the main and side entrances connect the outside and inside, and ensure the aesthetic consistency of the glass façade. The swing door, with its fine-framed drum walls and leaves, creates an invitingly bright and transparent effect. The glass edges of the revolving door are covered by discreet aluminium profiles. The high-quality profile finish with rounded edges lends a hint of elegance.

A comfortable climate and a quiet environment thanks to insulating revolving doors

The revolving doors serve not only as entrance doors for personnel, they also separate the interior from the exterior climate. Draughts stay outside. The air curtain unit fitted in the ceiling canopy provides additional protection against incoming cold air. Because of the insulating effect of the revolving doors, background noise from the motorway also stays outside – a welcome benefit because the entrances are situated at the same height as the carriageways.

Revolving doors provide ease of access and safety

Members, visitors, and employees of the ÖAMTC Mobility Centre should of course enjoy ease of access as they come and go. Revolving doors by GEZE are an optimal solution. The semi-automatic TSA 325 NT revolving door selected uses the automatic positioning device to reset the leaf to the starting position after entering, so that the next ‘passenger’ can be accepted.

The safety standards for GEZE revolving doors are high: Contact with the closing edges triggers an emergency brake and prevents hands or objects getting trapped between drum walls and side-hung leaves. Automatically limiting the revolving speed of the door leaves guarantees safety when entering the new ÖAMTC Centre.

Fire protection and universal access in one – door closers from GEZE

With intelligent window systems for preventive fire protection (SHE) by GEZE. Photo: Sigrid Rauchdobler for GEZE GmbH

With intelligent window systems for preventive fire protection (SHE) by GEZE. © Sigrid Rauchdobler / GEZE GmbH

Modern door closer technology provides preventive fire protection for barrier-free escape and rescue route doors on the floors. The GEZE TS 5000 EFS type free swing door closers , for instance, allow personnel to enter through the doors without requiring much force to open or close them. The comfort hold-open function allows the door to be stopped at the end of the free swing area. The hold-open function prevents doors from closing in an uncontrolled manner – caused by a draft for instance – or remaining stopped in the room.

Fire protection doors with free swing and comfort hold-open function with GEZE door closer technology. Photo: Sigrid Rauchdobler for GEZE GmbH

Fire protection doors with free swing and comfort hold-open function with GEZE door closer technology. © Sigrid Rauchdobler / GEZE GmbH

Important for fire protection: The door still closes automatically in the event of a fire. The doors always close safely when released. The door closers can be set variably up to the highest closing force EN 6 and can be used on single and double leaf fire and smoke control doors.

GEZE TS 5000 ISM door closers with free swing and comfort hold-open functions ensure both leaves of the asymmetrical double leaf fire protection doors close in the correct sequence. The integrated closing sequence control holds the active leaf open until the passive leaves have closed to ensure a safe closing of the doors in the event of fire. The TS 5000 E-ISM version also offers an electro-mechanical hold-open function in the guide rail, so hold-open of these doors can be regulated with variable adjustment.

Natural ventilation: automated windows with ‘intelligent’ drives

Keeping escape and rescue routes smoke-free is the top priority. This ensures that everyone can access safe areas as quickly as possible in the event of danger. GEZE smoke and heat extraction systems (SHE) are twice as useful in the large testing hall: their pulling power ensures the reliable and safe smoke extraction in the event of a fire as well as day-to-day ventilation.

Powerchain synchro chain drives open the large workshop windows with high force and a stroke of up to 80 centimetres. In the event of a fire, the window automatically opens full in less than 60 seconds. The integrated control unit makes the window drives easy to combine and ensures the sequential and safe opening and closing of the windows as well as the synchronisation of up to three drives.

The Powerchain drives from the GEZE IQ windowdrive series are ‘intelligent’. They can be integrated into KNX building systems as direct bus participants for natural ventilation.

GEZE SHE 110 systems with spindle drives in a tandem version are an optimal solution for the large roof windows in the testing hall. The window drive systems are a combination of the IQ windowdrive E 250 spindle drive in door leaf installation and a mechanical console set with locking function. When smoke and heat need to be extracted, the heavy and large window leaves in the ÖAMTC Mobility Centre ensure maximum opening width in just one minute, thus improving fire protection.

The GEZE contribution to mobility at the ÖAMTC in Vienna Erdberg:

  • Buildings expertise: Tailored solutions in cooperation with everyone involved in the construction to improve operating processes – from handling visitor flows to optimal food service catering in the cafeteria
  • Look and design: Integration of door and window systems for harmonious aesthetics
  • Revolving doors from the GEZE TSA 325 NT product range that match the glass aesthetic of the façade
  • Barrier-free fire protection doors for preventive fire protection
  • Intelligent window systems and automatic window openers for preventive fire protection and natural ventilation