Nothing disturbs concentration more than noise. And so the quality of a door in schools or universities is also judged by its sound-absorbing properties. Nobody would dispute that classrooms or seminar rooms need to be as quiet as possible in order to support learning success. Undisturbed lessons and absolute silence during examinations are a must.

In everyday school life, sections with high noise levels should therefore be acoustically separated from classrooms or seminar rooms. Functional door systems from Novoferm offer architects the opportunity to creatively organise the interplay between pedagogy and interior design.

High user frequencies and frequent collisions with equipment and objects with a constantly changing flow of people - that's what a busy school day looks like. Fire and smoke protection closures must be able to withstand high loads in this environment and still guarantee a secure room closure to prevent the passage of smoke or fire. The "durability of self-closing" in accordance with DIN EN 1191 must also be tested and classified in accordance with DIN EN 14600.

Differences between hot and cold areas must also be taken into account. In addition, slight damage to building elements cannot be prevented even in normal school operations. Doors and gates must therefore be designed to be robust enough to withstand such defects without losing their function. In addition, dirt-prone rebate areas should be designed to be as easy to clean as possible.

Open, transparent structures are also of great importance in modern learning and teaching. Lecture theatres and seminar rooms flooded with daylight are at the top of the wish list, and not just for energy reasons. Wherever possible, integrated atriums in conjunction with large glass surfaces can extend visual axes and open up rooms.

Transparent building also promotes communication and the interdisciplinary exchange of ideas in precisely those places that are intended for this purpose. Architecture influences people's behaviour much more than is generally assumed. For example, glass surfaces spanning several storeys create atrium-like situations that counteract the feeling of being closed off and fulfil a place of learning with a quality of stay and well-being.

A modern educational facility should be barrier-free for many reasons. Either to make the highly frequented school day as safe as possible, or to enable people with disabilities to participate fully in terms of inclusion. Threshold-free smoke protection doorsand "intelligent" safety systems that only close doors in an emergency are examples of the contributions that Novoferm can make with its building elements in terms of accessibility.

Similar to office buildings, the guidelines for preventive fire protection in connection with the structural requirements for escape and rescue routes also apply to educational facilities. The regulations of DIN EN 179 and standard EN 1125 govern the use of automatically closing emergency exits and doors with panic exit devices.

Doors that must be self-closing may be kept open. Provided they have hold-open systems that cause the doors to close automatically in the event of smoke. It must also be possible to close them manually.

The likelihood of a panic breaking out depends on whether a building is being used by strangers or people familiar with the area. In all cases, people must be able to easily reach the escape and rescue routes provided.

As in all types of private, public or commercial buildings, the security aspect is also of great importance in schools and universities. As educational facilities are often extensive complexes, a wide range of measures are required in terms of fire and smoke protection, burglary protection, access restrictions or sound and noise protection. And because children and young people who are cared for and taught here need to be protected from every possible danger, a wide range of components must also be used.

Modern door systems that are based on a standardised platform and fulfil different requirements are a good choice in such buildings. The variety of possible applications here lies in the technical equipment and is concealed in a standardised design.

Steel doors with the same appearance in combination with equally uniformly designed tubular frame systems cover the greatest need for security requirements without creating visual clutter.