The automatic door installations below were delivered by Coetz™ and our parent company, MC Automations. Automatic doors are the one part of our range that we both supply and install — aluminium windows and doors are supplied only, with installation arranged by the customer’s own contractor.
What these automatic door installations have in common
The automatic door installations on this page span shopping centres, hospitals, corporate offices, restaurants and leisure venues. They look very different from the street, but the engineering questions behind them were much the same: how much traffic will pass through the opening, what has to happen when the power fails, how the entrance secures after hours, and what the door has to talk to.
Traffic volume drives the specification
Among automatic door installations, a corporate reception and a shopping-centre entrance can use the same operator model and still need completely different set-ups. Duty cycle determines the hardware, the service interval and often the sensor arrangement. Most of the automatic door installations shown here were specified from an honest estimate of daily passes rather than from the size of the opening alone.
The entrance has to keep working when the power does not
Load-shedding changed how automatic door installations are specified in South Africa. Battery backup is no longer an optional extra on a main entrance, and the behaviour on power failure — fail open, fail secure, or hold last position — is a decision that should be made deliberately at specification stage rather than discovered during the first outage.
Most automatic door installations have to integrate with something
Very few automatic door installations stand alone. Card readers, intercoms, reception release buttons, fire panels and building management systems all commonly interface with the operator. Where an entrance is access controlled, the interface is usually the part that needs the most attention on site, and it is the part most often left undefined in the original scope.
From gallery to case study
The gallery below shows completed automatic door installations. Beneath it, a set of written case studies goes into more detail on individual projects — what was installed, what the site demanded and why the specification ended up where it did. If a project on this page resembles yours, the matching case study is usually the fastest way to understand what your own entrance is likely to need.
Discussing your own project
If you are planning automatic door installations for a new building or replacing an entrance that has reached the end of its life, send the site location, photographs of the existing opening, an estimate of daily foot traffic and a note of any access-control equipment that has to integrate. Powered pedestrian doors are governed by safety requirements published by the South African Bureau of Standards, and the specification should be set with those in mind from the outset.
You can also browse Coetz™ automatic doors or read the automatic door repairs guide if you are maintaining an entrance rather than installing a new one.
A look at recent automatic entrance installations delivered by Coetz™ and our parent company, MC Automations. Automatic doors are the one part of our range that we both supply and install — with installation included across Gauteng.
Project gallery
Real automatic-door and shopfront installations delivered across South Africa.
Recent installations
How we work
Coetz™ supplies standard-size aluminium windows and aluminium doors direct and online. For commercial automatic doors and custom shopfronts, we supply and install through MC Automations, with a dedicated service team supporting installations nationwide.
Have a project?
Planning an automatic entrance, shopfront or a supply order for a development? Contact the Coetz™ team or email Marcel@mc-automations.com to discuss your requirements.
How the safety side actually works
Two sensor types work together on completed automatic door installations: motion detection to open on approach, and presence detection to hold the door while somebody stands in the opening. Add safety beams and a force limit and the door reverses rather than pushing. Most call-outs we attend are sensors knocked out of alignment by a trolley or a delivery, not motors that have failed.
We walk the opening with a trolley and at normal walking pace before handover, then record the speed, hold-open and force settings.
Servicing, spares and call-outs
We recommend a professional service every six months, with more frequent visits for very busy entrances such as malls. A visit checks and realigns the sensors, inspects the belt, rollers and guides, re-checks opening and closing force, and replaces wear parts before they strand the door. Wear items are replaced as part of servicing rather than under warranty.
We stock the operators, sensors, drive belts and control boards we fit, so a repair does not wait on an imported part. Automatic doors are installed and serviced nationwide, with call-outs within 24 hours in Gauteng.
How completed automatic door installations is priced
Four things move the number: how wide the opening is, what glass it carries, how many sensors the layout needs, and whether access control is included. That is why we confirm the opening, the power supply and the traffic flow at a free site measure and then quote a fixed price. Standard glazing is 6.38 mm laminated safety glass, powder-coated framing to match the frontage.
How long do automatic doors last?
Life depends on traffic, environment and maintenance rather than age. The MC-125 operator is tested to one million operating cycles, and a serviced entrance comfortably outlives an unserviced one.
Do automatic doors work during load-shedding?
Only if that was specified. A battery backup keeps the door operating through a slot; without one, the door should be set to fail open or fail secure, with a manual release staff know how to use.
What the entrance is made of
Glass and frame decide how completed automatic door installations looks and how it behaves in use. The standard is 6.38 mm laminated safety glass; performance and tinted glass are options, quoted separately, where heat or privacy are a factor. Frames are powder-coated to the building colour, and slim sightlines keep more of the opening as daylight rather than aluminium.
Upgrading an existing entrance
An existing doorway can usually be automated without rebuilding the frontage. A swing operator suits a hinged door that is staying put; a sliding installation replaces a tired frontage and gives a wider, cleaner opening. The deciding factors are the strength of the head, the squareness of the opening and the route for power.
When something goes wrong
Describe what the door is doing and a technician can usually name the cause before travelling: held open points to sensors or a detection zone problem, reversing points to an obstruction or force limit, and noise points to rollers, belt or guides. Because the operators, sensors, belts and control boards we fit are held in stock, most of those are fixed on the first visit.
Can we choose a different glass?
Yes. The standard is 6.38 mm laminated safety glass, and tinted, obscured or performance glass can be specified, and is quoted separately, where the frontage needs it.
Planning automatic door installations: what we look at first
Every project in the gallery above started with the same short list of questions. Answering them early is what keeps automatic door installations on programme, because most delays come from a detail that was not checked at the survey stage rather than from the door itself.
Sliding or swing
Most of the automatic door installations on this page are sliding entrances built on the MC-125 operator. A sliding door suits a busy entrance where people arrive from both directions at once, and where there is wall space beside the opening for the leaves to park. Where that space does not exist, or where a single door opens off a corridor, a swing operator such as the MCW-100 is usually the better fit. Both operators are imported and assembled by MC Automations, and both are supported locally with stocked spares.
Measuring the opening properly
A good survey records more than width and height. We look at the clear opening the traffic actually needs, the wall space either side, the header height available for the operator and track, and the condition of the floor where the guides will sit. Uneven or tiled-over floors, structural columns close to the opening and services running through the bulkhead all change how automatic door installations are detailed, so they are measured on site rather than taken from a drawing.
Glass and frames
Our standard glass is 6.38 mm clear laminated safety glass, which holds together if it breaks and suits high-traffic public entrances. Leaves can be fully framed in aluminium or run with minimal framing, depending on how the entrance should look from the street. Where an existing shopfront is being upgraded, the new leaves are matched to the surrounding aluminium so the automatic door installation reads as part of the original frontage.
Sensors, safety and how the door behaves
Each entrance needs an activation sensor to open the door and a safety sensor to stop it closing on someone standing in the opening. The settings matter as much as the hardware: opening speed, hold-open time and the size of the detection zone are set to the traffic on that particular door. A hospital corridor, a mall entrance and an office reception will each be set up differently, even when the operator is the same model.
Locking, access control and after-hours modes
Most automatic door installations have to secure the building at night and integrate with something during the day. That can be an electric lock on the operator, a key switch or remote for the manager on duty, or a link to the building’s access control so the door only opens for authorised cards after hours. Agreeing these modes before installation avoids rework once the door is in service.
Working inside a trading centre
Many of the projects above were completed inside operating shopping centres. That brings its own requirements: centre management approval, working hours that avoid peak trade, temporary closure of the entrance and a clean, safe site while the work is under way. We plan automatic door installations in malls around those constraints so the store or the centre can keep trading with as little disruption as possible.
Handover and after-care
At handover the client is shown how to switch between modes, how to lock up and what the door should do if the power fails. Replacement parts for the MC-125 and MCW-100, from floor guides and remotes to sensors and drive units, are listed with published prices in our shop, so a worn part can be identified and replaced without guesswork.
How the programme usually runs
Most automatic door installations follow the same sequence. A site survey confirms the opening, the floor and the header, and identifies anything the door must connect to. A written quotation then sets out the operator, the leaves, the glass, the sensors and the locking, so there is a clear record of what is being supplied. Once the quotation is accepted, the aluminium and glass are prepared to the measured sizes and the installation date is agreed with the client or centre management.
On the day, the existing door is removed if there is one, the track and operator are fixed, the leaves are hung and the sensors are wired and set. The door is then tested through every mode, including what it does when the power is interrupted, before it is handed over. Keeping each stage separate is what lets us give a reliable date, and it means any change requested along the way is agreed in writing before work continues.
What to send us before a site visit
To give you a realistic first view of your own automatic door installation, it helps to have the following ready:
- A few photos of the existing entrance, inside and out
- The approximate opening width and height
- Whether the entrance is a new build or an upgrade of an existing shopfront
- How busy the entrance is at peak times
- Any access control, alarm or fire system the door must connect to
- Centre or landlord requirements if the site is inside a mall
Automatic door installations in short
If you are pricing automatic door installations, send the structural opening sizes and a photograph and we will specify the system, the sensors and the glass against the traffic the doorway really carries. Automatic door installations are supplied, installed and serviced by one team, with spares held locally.
Ask us about automatic door installations and we will confirm the opening, the power supply and the traffic flow before quoting a fixed price.
Automatic door installations at a glance
- Pricing for automatic door installations follows the opening width, the glass and the sensor layout.
- Ask us to confirm the opening before ordering automatic door installations.
Featured project case studies
- Group One, Sandton — automatic entrance doors
- Life Wilgeheuwel Hospital — automatic & hermetic doors
- Fourways Mall — retail shopfronts & automatic doors
- MSD, Midrand — automatic entrance doors
- Total Ninja, Centurion — automatic entrance doors
- Corporate office, Pretoria — automatic entrance doors
- Timberland, Eastgate — retail shopfront & automatic doors
- Bootlegger Coffee, Randburg — shopfront & automatic doors
What we look at before quoting automatic door installations
Every quotation starts from the same short list, and having the answers ready shortens the process considerably. We need the clear structural opening rather than the size of any existing frame, because the operator and the door leaves are sized from the structure. We need to know whether the opening is square and plumb, since a header that is out of level shows up immediately in the running gear. We need the floor finish, because a polished screed, a tiled threshold and a recessed matwell each change how the floor guide is set.
Beyond the opening itself, the questions are about how the entrance is used. Roughly how many people pass through in a day, and does that concentrate into short peaks? Does the entrance need to secure after hours, and if so, by what — the operator, a separate lock, or a shutter? Is there an existing access-control system, and who maintains it? Is there power at the head of the opening, and is there space above for an operator header without fouling a bulkhead or a sprinkler line? Most delays on automatic door installations trace back to one of those questions going unanswered until the technician is already on site.
