A Decision Guide for Your Next Commercial Project: Balanced Doors vs. Revolving vs. Swing

Choosing the right entrance isn’t just a finishing touch, it’s a strategic decision that affects daily ingress and egress, occupant comfort, and even long-term energy costs.

In commercial settings, the door determines how smoothly people enter and exit, how much conditioned air escapes when it is closed, and what first impression visitors take away. A poorly constructed or installed door can create challenges and clash with a building’s aesthetic, while the right choice supports better foot traffic flow, resists damage, and can even reinforce a building’s identity.

A structured decision guide helps you cut through the noise, focusing on the factors that truly matter such as foot traffic, available space, efficiency goals, accessibility, and design intent. Weigh these elements early, and you can avoid costly repairs and ensure your entrance supports the way your building will be used.

Key Factors to Consider Before Specifying

Before you settle on a door type, take a step back and think about how the entrance will be used.

Start with traffic volume.

Will the doorway see hundreds or thousands of people during peak hours, or a steadier flow of traffic throughout a day? High traffic doors can impact energy efficiency, as frequent openings allow conditioned air to escape, naturally increasing heating and cooling expenses.

Next, evaluate the physical space. Measure depth and ceiling height and think about how much clearance you have for a door to swing, slide, or for panels to pivot. Tight corridors, overhead obstructions, or nearby permanent furniture can all influence whether swinging, sliding, or folding options make the most sense.

Furthermore, consider the environment the door will face. Interior and exterior doors have very different demands. Exterior doors must withstand weather, temperature swings, and potential water intrusion, while interior doors may need to focus more on acoustics, privacy, or fire ratings. Security is another key factor, particularly in retail or healthcare settings. Locks, access control, and impact resistance, for example, may be essential.

Finally, don’t overlook accessibility and compliance with building codes. Entrances should allow people in wheelchairs (and those with strollers or carts) to pass easily, and some jurisdictions even require specific clearances, automatic closers, or panic hardware. Aesthetics and brand image matter too. The door is often the first impression visitors have of a space, so style, finish, and integration with surrounding architecture can be as important as function. By weighing usage patterns, spatial constraints, environment, safety, and appearance together, you’ll narrow your options to doors that perform reliably, conserve energy, and create the right experience for everyone who walks through.

Balanced Doors: Better Performance, Lasting Value

Balanced doors are engineered for smoother operation, reduced opening force, and longer service life, especially in settings where entrances see heavy, constant use. An Ellison custom balanced door specifically is made up of three key components: the door leaf, the frame, and innovative balanced hardware.

Where most conventional doors rely on two or three hinges along the vertical edge, creating inevitable lateral stress that leads to wear and eventual failure, the balanced hardware distributes the door’s weight evenly across the frame. By transferring weight and opening force down into the ground, the system relieves stress from any would-be hinges and the frame, making them ideal for high-traffic commercial or multifamily buildings.

Beyond durability and smoother operation, a balanced door has a controlled, pivot-centered motion that reduces the effort required to open the door, making even heavy or oversized doors feel lighter and easier to use.

This makes them more accessible to people of all ages and abilities, while also helping buildings meet ADA requirements without extra hardware. The balanced action also prevents doors from slamming or being caught by the wind, reducing noise, protecting the frame, and improving overall safety. Because the system handles heavier loads without sagging, it allows for greater design flexibility with larger panels or unique materials.

Over time, the reduced wear and minimal maintenance needs translate into long-term cost savings, making balanced doors a smart investment for both performance and lifecycle value.

Revolving Doors: Efficiency and Elegance in Every Turn

Picture this: You walk up to a hotel and see the revolving door spinning like clockwork—smooth, effortless, and functional.

Behind the simple rotation is clever engineering. Revolving doors consist of a central shaft with multiple wings (usually three or four) that rotate within a cylindrical enclosure. As people push the wings to enter or exit, the door creates a continuous flow, allowing for simultaneous entry and exit without significant air exchange between the inside and outside.

Revolving doors excel at improving energy efficiency by minimizing heat loss, making them ideal for buildings with heavy foot traffic. By design, revolving doors also reduce congestion at entrances and can provide a touch of modern elegance to a building’s design.

However, these doors may also present accessibility challenges for individuals using wheelchairs or with disabilities, unless an adjacent accessible entrance is provided, which is why many architects specify balanced or swing doors next to a revolving door.

Revolving doors are best suited for hotels, airports, convention centers, and office buildings that see mass amounts of people moving in and out daily.

Swing Doors: Simple, Reliable, and Ready for Any Space

Swing doors are everywhere for a reason: they’re easy to install, intuitive to use, and flexible enough for nearly any environment. They can be single or double doors and may be outfitted with push bars, handles, closers, or automatic openers depending on the setting. Their simplicity makes them easy to use and maintain. Traditional swing doors offer a range of advantages that make them a reliable choice for many settings. Their simple hinge-based design ensures ease of use and minimal maintenance, reducing the likelihood of mechanical issues. They are highly flexible, capable of fitting in nearly any location. From homes and offices to retail and industrial spaces, swing doors can be customized with automatic openers, panic hardware, or ADA-compliant handles to enhance accessibility. Cost-effective and widely available in a variety of materials, styles, and finishes, swing doors provide both functional and aesthetic versatility, making them a practical and adaptable solution for countless applications.

On the downside, hinges and closers can wear over time. Therefore, in high-use or space-constrained environments, alternatives such as balanced doors can offer smoother operation and easier access.

Plan the Entry, Shape the Experience

An entrance is a statement about how your building operates and the experience you want to deliver. Whether you value the long-term strength and smooth motion of a balanced door; the energy savings and continuous flow of a revolving door; or the straightforward versatility of a swing door; success comes from matching the entrance to your space’s traffic patterns, layout, efficiency targets, and accessibility requirements.

Thoughtful planning today ensures an entryway that enhances safety, performance, and the impression you leave on every visitor well into the future.

Balanced doors often offer the optimal solution for high-traffic, effortless, and sustainable entrances that must perform for the life of a commercial building. Interested in balanced doors for your next project? Find a representative in your area.