Door openings

[#1]

I guess your front and back door open inwards whereas many public buildings and some houses abroad open outward.

Why ?

Sure the answer is on Google but before looking it up why the difference in door openings, is it just random ?

Have a guess

[#2]

Has it anything to do with a Fire Escape? In that all of these open outward so it makes it easier to exit the building?

[#3]

would it be something to do with health and safety? Like emergency services bashing your door in is easier if it opens inwards? That's my guess. But saying that... not sure why other countries or public building it would be the other way around though... hmmm.

[#4]

I think it goes back to traditional house design in the U.K... we design houses with doors opening inwards

but sensible architects design houses with doors opening outwards....

Why... Because if you open a door outwards then there is more usable room inside...

from a pub`s point of view... it is easier to "literally" throw someone out of a pub, if the door opens outwards.

Fire escape is another good reason for outward opening doors ,,.. in case of crush situations in public buildings.. would be almost impossible to open the door(s) inwards in that situation..

[#5]

I can see the logic of that @jaread83, imagine the frustration and embarrassment of the Police hammering away at the door using their 'Big Red Key' only to have the occupant answer it with it opening outward.

Having said that when looking at the door frame it would be easy to see which way it opened, but I'll hold on to my previous thought for a bit longer.

[#6]

It might be one of those peculiarly British things, some other European countries wouldn't give you a thank for an inward opening door.

There is though good reason for it in heavy snow afflicted areas, that if snow drifts on to an outward opening door, it can be very difficult or near impossible to open.

[#7]

Same with the windows, but maybe that's because they have shutters on the outside.

[#8]

@gleneagles

No it is not random.

Outward opening doors in public places is due to this disaster

http://www.sunderlandecho.com/lifestyle/retro/remembering-the-183-children-killed-in-sunderland-s-vi...

[#9]

I think inward opening doors are more secure because the rebate protects the hinges and mortice. In our house the main doors are inward opening but the "French" doors onto the terrace open outwards.

[#10]

That's the opposite with me @PeterLoftus, we have 3 sets of patio doors leading out to the garden and they all open inward. I've thought that it was to reduce the chance of them getting caught by a gust of wind and slamming shut and potentially breaking.

[#11]

@SpendLessTime - That's the first I've ever heard of that, it's so sad, and all for a toy!

Edit:- Corrected typo.

[#12]

I wish the front door of Adair Towers opened outwards.

Our front door leads directly on to a sidewalk/pavement which is about 1 metre wide and then at  the edge of the pavement is the A6 road. The road is quite narrow here for historic reasons, but it gets a lot of car and truck traffic. Quite a few cyclists use the sidewalk/pavement as a cycle track to avoid the road traffic. As you would expect with cyclists they think it is their right to go at full speed on the pavement. Stepping outside our front door can be hazardous because of these squires on bikes.

An outwards opening front door would provide a physical lesson to teach these lycra hooligans about not riding dangerously on the footpath.

[#13]

Outward opening doors in public buildings is a safety requirement. If there is a need to evacuate a building an outward opening door allows the natural flow of people if there is a rush to get out. An inward opening door would slow down the evacuation of people if the crowd had to be cleared back to allow the door to be opened.

[#14]

@Anonymous

Yes it was especially sad and did see the introduction of legislation with regards to safety in public (and commercial) places. So some good came from it.

This shows the strength of feeling by people at the time

News of the disaster spread throughout the country and national newspapers ran the story. Queen Victoria sent a message of condolence to the families and a donation towards funeral costs, and asked to be kept informed about the recovery of the survivors. The Scottish poet, William McGonagall wrote a poem called “The Sunderland Calamity”, which shows the strength of public feeling at the time.

The disaster fund raised £5000, which paid for the funerals of all 183 children. During the funerals, which lasted from the following Tuesday until Friday, all businesses in Sunderland remained closed as a mark of respect. The money that was left over was put towards the cost of a memorial statue of a grieving mother carrying a dead child. The memorial was erected in 1883 under a canopy in Mowbray Park, opposite the scene of the disaster. I

from http://www.sunderland.gov.uk/CHttpHandler.ashx?id=6964&p=0 

[#15]

For non-public buildings you require a substantial  porch or overhang to protect outward opening doors from rain/snow. This costs money!