Aesthetics and architectural freedom are often at least as important as the energy saving and draft control advantages of revolving doors.

The coloured glass versions of the Crystal Tourniket, recently introduced by the Netherlands-based Boon Edam, takes into account this requirement and has been offering the customer and the architect more room to obtain special architectural effects with colours and light.

By the 1990s an architectural preference for transparency had developed, in facades as well as in interior design, leading to a revolution in the use of glass in combination with aluminium profiles.

The balance between glass and aluminium is clearly reflected in Boon Edam's Crystal Tourniket range, which is made almost entirely of glass. Thanks to the very characteristics of aluminium itself, Boon Edam has succeeded in reducing the number of profiles and in rendering them as slim and elegant as possible in order to offer maximum transparency.

Boon Edam's full glass doors of over 3 m high and with diameters up to 3 m can now be found in office buildings, department stores and hotels worldwide. The entrance of the world's most prestigious hotel, the Burj Al Arab in Dubai, is just one example.

'Glass and aluminium are very much the basis of our revolving door industry,' says Richard Eshuis, sales and marketing manager of Boon Edam, which produced its first revolving door exactly 100 years ago.
'Aluminium seems to encourage designing. It's light but strong, flexible, it handles temperatures well, is corrosion resistant, it looks good and its sustainability easily compensates for the initial investment.  What more can one ask from a basic material?' says Eshuis.

Even though the Crystal Tourniket is a perfect match for contemporary glass facades, it also blends beautifully with classic architectural styles, he says. With its stainless steel appearance and its drive concealed beneath the floor, the door reflects quality in design and engineering, he adds.

'Revolving doors are always open and closed at the same time - similarly we have tried to merge aesthetics with functionality,' says Eshuis. 'Despite the fact that our doors are affordable for practically every customer, a Boon Edam door is often said to be the Rolls Royce of the automatic door industry and we have to keep up a reputation.'