Pivot doors can create unusually generous entrances with very little visible hardware. Automating them introduces another layer to the architectural detail: the motor, transmission, sensors and controls all have to work with a door leaf rotating around an offset axis. GEZE’s Axira addresses this by concealing the electromechanical drive within the lintel or suspended ceiling.

Axira is intended for large pivot doors in residential, hospitality and other architecturally demanding entrance situations. © GEZE

Introduced in 2026, Axira is presented by GEZE as the first automated pivot-door drive system tested and certified in accordance with EN 16005. The system develops up to 800 Nm of torque and is designed for single-leaf doors weighing up to 450 kilograms, with dimensions of up to 2,400 millimetres in width and 4,000 millimetres in height. GEZE states that the drive has been tested over 200,000 cycles.

The compact Axira motor-gear unit is concealed above the pivot door within the lintel or suspended ceiling. © GEZE

The drive itself is manufactured as a series product, while the leaf and frame components are adapted to individual door profiles in cooperation with profile manufacturers. For architects, this distinction is important. The automation may be concealed, but the space it requires, its connection to the frame and access for inspection still need to be coordinated as part of the entrance detail rather than added after the surrounding construction has been resolved.

Exploded view of the Axira drive assembly, showing how the motor, gear and connection components are integrated with the pivot-door system. © GEZE

Safety is equally tied to the geometry of the door. A pivot leaf moves through space on both sides of its axis, making the relationship between movement, users and adjacent circulation different from that of a conventional hinged door. Axira combines the drive with sensor technology intended to detect obstacles and secure the movement of the leaf. The visual simplicity of the entrance therefore depends on a less visible layer of technical coordination.

Sensor technology monitors the movement zone around the pivot leaf, where the door sweeps through space on both sides of its axis. © GEZE

Axira can also be connected to building management systems through BACnet or OPC UA. This moves the door beyond an isolated automatic element and allows its operation to form part of a broader building automation strategy.

Axira can be integrated into a building management system via BACnet or OPC UA, connecting door operation with the wider building automation infrastructure. © GEZE

The architectural interest of Axira lies in this separation between what is seen and what has to be resolved. A large pivot door can remain visually reduced while the drive, safety systems and digital connections are absorbed into the surrounding construction. But concealment does not remove these systems from the design process. It makes early coordination of the lintel, frame, services, sensors and movement zone more important.

For architects, the question is therefore not simply how to automate a large door. It is how to make automation part of the architecture without allowing the mechanism to determine its expression.

The automated pivot door combines a visually reduced entrance with the drive, sensing and control technology required for its operation. © GEZE