Case Study: Natural History Museum achieves accessible, safe and stylish visitor access with dormakaba

Natural History Museum - Customer Case Study

The Natural History Museum’s £78 million Darwin Centre in London, which welcomes over 4.5 million visitors a year, needed durable, accessible and visually discreet door solutions that met strict accessibility and fire-safety standards. dormakaba was chosen to provide the door hardware and systems for the development, supplying a range of closers, patch fittings, floor springs and automatic operators to suit the centre’s busy public spaces and sleek architectural design.

dormakaba installed TS 92 and TS 93 cam‑action closers with electro‑magnetic hold‑open, the concealed ITS 96 closer, EA patch fittings (used with distributor Harbrine for the glass wall access), BTS 75V and BTS 80 floor springs, and an ED 200 automatic swing operator. These products delivered low opening forces in accordance with BS 8300, concealed hardware to preserve the building’s aesthetic, hydraulically controlled closing and mechanical backcheck, and fire‑safe automatic/manual reversion (third‑party fire tested to EN 1634‑1). The result: compliant, accessible entrances that protect against smoke and fire, maintain everyday usability for millions of visitors, and integrate cleanly with the Darwin Centre’s design.

Natural History Museum