Axis Wins European Healthcare Design Award

Northampton based Axis Automatic Entrance Systems has won the prestigious European Healthcare Design Award for Innovation for Quality Improvement. Their Flo-Motion manual sliding doors were developed, in conjunction with architects BDP, specifically for the new Alder Hey Children’s Hospital in Liverpool.

The awards ceremony was held in London on 28 June as the culmination of the 2016 European Healthcare Design Conference in London. The three judges came from the USA, Canada and the UK and were looking for a technological or product innovation that has had a transformational impact on the design of healthcare services and/or the patient experience.

Axis Flo-Motion doors are a low friction, manual, sliding door system designed to be operated by a child. At Alder Hey Hospital, the complete ward-side wall of each bedroom is fully glazed with a large fixed panel and a large sliding panel forming the door, which at 1550mm is wide enough to accept bed traffic. Each panel has an interstitial blind to enable the patient to choose their level of privacy during their stay. The moving panel is very heavy and, due to infection control constraints, could not be supported on a floor track. The door needed to be easy to open by children and nursing staff without posing a danger of finger trapping upon closing.

In response to these challenges Axis developed a unique top hung system with an integral soft-close dampening mechanism applying a true R&D approach. As a direct result of the door design, all patients have excellent views of the nursing team providing their care and vice versa. The glazed wall and door allow daylight to flood into the centre of the ward and frame views of the beautiful landscape outside.

Alder Hey Project Manager David Houghton said “The extra large, easy opening, glazed sliding doors have transformed the way single rooms work to deliver healthcare with a choice of privacy or social interaction when required without the loss of clinical observation.”

Since installing over 200 doors at Alder Hey, Axis have been busy installing Flo-Motion Doors at Luton & Dunstable and Altnagelvin Hospitals with several others in the pipeline for this year and 2017. They have also won three other design awards for these doors - the Laing O'Rourke Northern Innovation Award, the IHEEM Product Innovation Award at Healthcare Estates in 2015 and the 2015 Building Better Healthcare Product Award.

MD Rob Brunero said “We’re delighted and honoured to receive this European Healthcare Design Award. It really is the icing on the cake of a very successful first year for our Flo-Motion doors and a tribute to the hard working team at Axis that have made it all happen.”

For further information call 01604 212500, email sales@axisautomatic.com or visit www.axisautomatic.com