Door Operators for Acoustical Doors at The Jacobs Music Center

Home of the San Diego Symphony Orchestra, Brookfield Industries was proud to supply heavy duty door operators for acoustical doors as part of this major renovation completed in 2024.

Built in 1929 as part of the Fox Theatres chain, it became home to the San Diego Symphony in 1984. Now an integral part of the downtown community, it can host several entertainment events with the latest digital sound and lighting technology.

In general, acoustical doors are used to reduce sound transmission through the door and around the door’s perimeter between designated rooms. For this project, the doors were constructed with ¼” thick plate steel, acoustical insulation, and neoprene seals around the perimeter. Cam lift hinges were specified for improved threshold sealing. The 64” wide x 96” high doors weigh approximately 900 lbs each.

The NB-500-Low Energy operators were recommended since they can operate efficiently in manual mode, push-n- go activation, and provide adequate power to control these heavy doors and compress the acoustical seals.

The acoustical doors for the Jacobs Music Center are located between the main stage and the backstage area. Not only are they used for access to the stage before and after an event, but during the event. This means the door operator mechanisms needed to operate extremely quiet both in manual and automatic modes.

The door operators required a special sequence of operations and modifications to the linkage components to meet the architect’s specifications and installation requirements:

The door operator controls were modified for (3) modes of operation: automatic, manual, and smoke evacuation system (SES). In automatic mode, the doors are opened by push-n-go activation. In manual mode, it was necessary to provide power to the door operator PLC for monitoring purposes, and at the same time, lock-out power for push-n-go activation. During an emergency, the smoke evacuation system (SES) is activated and shall send a signal to the door operators to override both manual and automatic modes and open the doors. Once the SES signal has been removed, the doors shall return to their previous mode. We also supplied an output signal to the SES for monitoring door position when fully open or closed.

The NB-500-LE linkage arm and slider block was modified to accommodate a pull open reveal and allow the door to be raised ½” in 90 degrees from the cam lift hinges. The in-process photo shows the operator partially concealed in the header before the access plate is installed. The completed installation will only leave the arm and slider block visible.

It was our pleasure and honor working with all parties involved: ASSA ABLOY Entrance Systems, HGA, ISEC and R&S Construction.