Design on track

by Elaina Adams | January 1, 2013 12:00 pm

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By Jim Beaulieu
Increasing applications for interior manual and automated sliding doors that traditionally would be swing doors are being specified and installed. On the other side of the Atlantic, sliding doors have always been popular for interior and exterior installations, but even in Europe there have been recent substantial increases both in sheer numbers and in the scope of use for such doors. That trend is quickly catching on here as the North American taste for more creative and personal designs align with European flair.

In residential applications, European designers commonly feature sliding interior doors in such locations as bedroom and bath entries. In the Canadian commercial sphere, however, the use of sliding doors appears to be growing—they are being specified in office row arrangements, where individual enclosed offices are arrayed side-by-side facing the communicating hallway to maximize space utilization. In Japan, where available space has been at a premium deep into the nation’s history, the sliding door remains a predominant selection for the widest possible range of uses.

In part, the specification and installation of sliding doors is accounted for by familiar advantages of space conservation and esthetic appeal. Nevertheless, there is reason to suppose recent popularity growth worldwide also reflects solid improvements in door and hardware technology. Such developments have made doors of this kind—both manual and automatic—more useful and versatile than ever in many applications.

Interior automated sliding doors have advanced dramatically in the last few years. Now, rather than clunky, oversized belt-driven versions of the recent past, there are practical and robust solutions for exterior high-traffic applications. Technologies, such as linear magnetic-driven panels that literally float on magnets like a monorail train, provide a sleek minimized profile and are extraordinarily quiet.

All automated sliding doors work under the same principles—some form of actuator triggers the door panel to open or close. This could be a motion sensor that automatically causes the door panel to open as soon as movement is monitored in the sensor range or a simple push-button. At its basics, this is just an on/off switch, but, budget-willing, there are numerous additional features for security, safety, fire alarm, and privacy purposes. A matter of switches communicating to the system what function it should perform, such add-ons have become very cost-competitive, with software advances creating many new features at lower prices.

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Constraints on specifying sliding doors
Minor constraints have historically been involved in using sliding doors for certain applications. Many such issues have fallen away as the quality and technology of sliders continued to improve. In terms of esthetics versus privacy, ‘bulking up’ the door panel or trim to maximize privacy may lessen the desired affect intended for the application using a sleek sliding panel.

In the past, there have been sound transfer issues with sliding doors as compared to equivalent hinged models. In these cases, choice of materials for sliding panels and the surrounding opening become key considerations for the end user, and can often minimize or eliminate any problems.

Hinged doors may perform better than sliders at limiting the heat transfer from one space to another. In interior applications, this is often a minor issue. The temperature differential between rooms is normally less than between building interiors and exteriors. As such, heat transfer may be of minimal concern.

In most cases, interior sliding systems (whether manual or automatic) are unsuitable for fire separations due to their limitations as a smoke/fire barrier. Further, they typically do not swing out, impeding quick exit in an emergency situation such as a panicked crowd. The heavy-duty automated operators common to the front of a retail store offer these features, but this article is directed towards smaller sliding systems more suitable to a residential or light commercial application.

Some sliding door designs can be easier to compromise than hinged models. As is true with HVAC concerns, this is commonly less significant in all-interior installations. For most buildings, the most critical security requirements are at the perimeter.

While sliding doors have traditionally cost more at installation than their hinged counterparts, this is rapidly changing as many new designs are smaller and lighter, requiring less reinforcement and fewer fasteners. Some installations that required two people can easily be managed by one and in less time. (This is strictly concerning interior low-traffic applications and is in no terms is referring to a commercial heavy-duty application.)

The old adage still holds true that in most cases you get what you pay for. This means while prices may be falling, there is still a cost level for quality whether it is in the material or the labour going into installing it. This will also affect the longevity and maintenance aspect of the sliding door. Sliding doors generally require more adjusting than swing doors, but from a maintenance and longevity view, the lifespan should be similar if handled properly and adjusted on a regular basis if something should change in performance.

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Accounting for growing popularity
Issues of space are central in explaining the advantages of sliding doors. These openings will always function with greater space efficiency than hinged doors. When contemporary construction so often places a heavy premium on the value of every square inch of floor area, the parallel construction that makes sliding doors so efficient becomes attractive. Sliding units can maximize the available space in a design of fixed size; in other situations, they may actually enable designers to ‘work smaller,’ since less area is taken up in door swings.

A swinging door with a 1-m (3-ft) leaf consumes 3 m (9 ft) of floor space—the square of its linear size. In the fully open position, whether at 90 or 180 degrees, it will also require at least 1 m of dedicated wall length. The contrasting space efficiency of a sliding alternative—typically providing the same service in a space slightly more than twice the door thickness—is a decisive advantage in many structures. This benefit is multiplied by the number of sliding doors installed.

Another fundamental advantage sliding doors can provide is esthetic appeal. Of course, this is conditional to an extent—not all sliding doors are very attractive, but the general structure offers a head start in many designs. The spare, clean-lined look of sliding doors is a fine fit with modern styles in design and architecture. Where the overall movement has been to eliminate the fussiness and extra detail of older styles, sliding doors’ very nature have made them an ideal element for designers to incorporate.

Related to this advantage is the potential for daylighting. Many designers in recent years have emphasized use of natural light wherever possible, seeking to create spaces that are open while providing illumination in ways making for greater comfort and visibility. Current daylighting standards also promote energy conservation, seeking to limit the amount of artificial illumination a space demands.

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Glass sliding doors are only one of many useful ‘tools’ available to designers who seek to make the most of daylighting. Open or closed, they transmit light in ways other door types (including, of course, sliders manufactured of opaque materials) cannot. They have been widely used in those buildings designed to maximize the appealing esthetic and environmental effects of natural light. To get partial benefits of daylighting and limit privacy issues, installations may include full window leafs, partial leafs, or side lites of frosted glass rather than clear glazing.

Related to privacy issues, there is a flip side to the concerns occasionally surfacing with sliding doors. Offices with glass sliding doors may be an especially good choice in places like banks, where it may be helpful to see what is going on. Similarly, for other businesses, they can help managers keep an eye on employees in separate offices—promoting productivity and limiting losses to pilferage and waste.

Technological advancements
The best current glass sliding doors incorporate numerous technical improvements that have tended to accentuate and maximize the advantages they already deliver. As these improvements do not appear in every door now under manufacture, it is important for design professionals to recognize them, and to look carefully at the individual make and model to learn whether a particular spec item actually includes them.

Advanced sliding door systems no longer require bottom channels and tracks to guide door panels on an even plane. High-end engineered rollers and clamps are manufactured stronger, lighter, and smaller, and are more reliable while being quieter and easier to operate than their predecessors. These benefits create opportunities for progressive manufacturers to develop sliding systems with greater flexibility in form, function, and installation while enhancing the choices available. These changes have made specifying more advantageous to designers with so many choices.

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One objection some designers (and end users) have had about older-generation sliders relates to their speed of travel. Many older manual models, especially when not properly maintained, required a stiff tug to get them moving, which swiftly became an annoyance whenever they were used. At the other end of the track, they might be sliding too fast and end up hitting the stop with a sharp noise and too much vibration. Unregulated doors like this can easily be damaged in use, and the chances are greater that users might be hurt, if only in small ways, while operating them.

Engineers addressed this issue with designs incorporating special mechanisms. To help a user get the door moving, a better door of this kind will include specialized roller technologies. As such, it will need a force equivalent to just four per cent of the door mass to overcome initial friction—a light push, easily managed by practically any user. (This has special significance when doors are used by children, the elderly, or those with disabilities.) Built into the same door will be a dampening mechanism that prevents slams, whether intentional or not, on the opened and closed end of door travel. Precision-engineered track stops gently decelerate the doors; these mechanisms also can hold the door in the open or closed position. These soft-opening and soft-closing features make sliding doors less prone to abuse and damage, especially panels made of glass.

For designers to make the most of sliders in specific installations, it was important to improve tracks and hardware for the widest possible range of mounting styles. Over the course of many years, this has been accomplished. Today, reliable, smooth-functioning, easily installed hardware variations that enable several different configurations are available—options allow mounting from the top, ceiling, and wall, for instance. This enables flexibility in choice of door material and construction without re-engineering the system’s tracks and hardware.

Another style benefitting from better hardware was the recessed or pocket door, enabling users to slip the door completely out of sight inside a wall. Better designs make it easier to install and repair such doors, which formerly could be a problem because of their hidden workings and oversized components. Sleeker rollers and carriers in light-but-strong extruded aluminum tracks provide significant advantages with premium systems.

A new esthetic
Broadly stated, the sliding door concept has adapted well to contemporary design values. In tandem, advances in hardware design, production, and installation have delivered design options that similarly fit contemporary tastes.

For example, the systems controlling and supporting certain glass automatic sliding doors are now specifically engineered to employ something close to an absolute minimum in hardware. The materials attach directly to the glass. Designers hewing to a minimalist esthetic employ this version of the sliding door to complement their work.

In the pocket applications mentioned, these new hardware designs practically eliminate protrusions that can catch as a door slips into the wall. In any type of door project, such hardware takes up little space and generally calls attention to itself as no more than an accent.

Of course, if a specific design demands higher-profile, more eye-catching hardware, many options are available—including wide variations in styles and materials. In any event, modern sliding doors, making the most of a steady accumulation of technological and design improvements, are finding a place in more contemporary buildings.

Jim Beaulieu is operations manager for Dorma Canada, having been with the company for 20 years. He is an active member of the Door and Hardware Institute (DHI), holding positions on the Ontario chapter board, including Education Chair. Beaulieu can be contacted via e-mail at jbeaulieu@dormacanada.com[6].

Source URL: https://www.constructioncanada.net/design-on-track/

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