Advocates for Accessibility

A Customer Success Story: How Automation Transformed Life at an Independent Living Community

Helping Our Customers Make the World More Accessible

Since they opened in 1986, New Horizons Village has provided accessible, self-directed living for individuals with physical disabilities. For the 101 tenants living at New Horizons, there are ramps, freshly paved sidewalks, and gently sloping pathways; all the amenities you would expect. Yet for the last 35 years, the front doors of tenant's apartments have been manual. 

Watch the New Horizons Village Transformation Story

The Barriers

Manual apartment doors made it challenging for tenants to get in and out of their apartments. For some, turning the door handle posed a real challenge, and maneuvering a powerchair through a manual door was a daily inconvenience. Many tenants relied on a pull rope to pull the door shut behind them.

The wooden, manual doors were built to a standard 36” opening- not quite wide enough to accommodate today’s wheelchair sizes. Door frames and panels were consistently hit, dinged, and chipped.

pulling door closed with a rope
STANLEY Access Technologies installs wheelchair accessible doors

The Task

In 2020, STANLEY Access Technologies was tasked with providing New Horizons Village wheelchair accessible door solutions for their campus.

Gregg Nolan, STANLEY Sales Rep, recommended the ADA compliant M-Force™ Low Energy Swing Door Operators - known for their tough, dependable operation. As an exterior door, the application called for a product that could withstand New England weather and allow the door to open and close smoothly, despite windy conditions.

Another benefit of the M-Force™ was its smart iQ™ Controller which allows the doors to be quickly and easily integrated with 3rd party systems such as fire alarms and access control. New Horizons Village needed access control options for residents of various abilities: handheld 1 button transmitters from BEA, keypads on the exterior, and wall mounted push buttons on the interior.

Because this was a residential application, all wheelchair accessible doors had to be secure, safe, quiet, and reliable. New Horizons Village understood the importance of working with a partner who would provide the best technology and stand by their products for years to come.

Learn more about BEA activation devices.

When Carol Fitzgerald, CEO of New Horizons, Inc. and her team were putting together their renovation plan in 2019, widening and automating the apartment doors was a top priority.

Ready to Automate Your Doors?

The Renovation Begins

After the door frames were widened to 42” and new hollow metal doors were installed, it was time for STANLEY Access Technologies to install M-Force™ operators—68 in total.

Scheduling and coordinating were of utmost importance as to not disrupt the residents, who continued to live in their apartments throughout the construction.

The M-Force™ operators were professionally installed by an AAADM-certified STANLEY technician who ensured the wheelchair accessible doors were smooth, safe, and quiet.

SAT technician installing a door header

Welcome Home: The Completed Transformation

101 tenants are now greeted with a seamless automatic door experience. With the push of a button, their doors open and close automatically. It has been a monumental change for the tenants.

In addition to the apartment doors, STANLEY Access Technologies automated bathrooms in the main building with M-Force™ Low Energy Swing Door Operators and Dura-Glide® GreenStar 3000 automatic sliding doors installed at building entrances and various spaces around campus.

Today, all doors in the facility are fully automated. To learn more about New Horizons Village, visit nhvillage.org.

In Our Customers Words

It allows me to open up my own front door hands-free."

They hit that button, the door opens up and they’re happy."

STANLEY is not here to just say, "here's the product, here's what it does, good luck, call us if you need us." This is an investment, it goes beyond a sales relationship."

Carol Fitzgerald interview
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The Project by the Numbers

STANLEY Access Technologies was able to meet the needs of New Horizons Village for both residential and common areas throughout the property.

90

M-Force™ Swing Door Operators Installed

84

Apartments Automated

6

Dura-Glide® GreenStar 3000 Sliding Doors Installed

Discover How Simple It Is To Automate Your Doors

We're here to help you make your facility accessible. Our STANLEY experts will help you find the right automatic door products to meet your needs.