Central Theatre

The Assignment

• Automate the existing swing doors leading from the lobby to the “back of the house” in the 960-seat Central Theatre in Chatham, Kent, UK, an intimate venue for live musical and theatrical performances as well as films.

The Challenge

• To insure that the swing door operators did not create any noise that would distract the performers or members of the audience.

The Solution

Besam UK had initially installed a set of heavy-duty PowerSwing operators which handled the large wooden interior lobby doors with ease, but performers and patrons were often distracted by operator noise whenever someone entered or exited.

The PowerSwings were soon replaced with a lighter-duty Besam operator that was quieter but still not ideal. This led Besam UK to select the Central Theater a pilot site for the SW100, Besam’s highly-intelligent, low-energy swing door operator that features near-silent operation.

The pilot was a complete success, allowing the theater’s management to offer patrons the convenience of automatic doors without any adverse affect on the performers or the audience’s enjoyment of the shows.