Considering Interior Glass Walls, Doors, Or Partitions? Here’s What To Look For!
Open plan offices are popping up everywhere. Businesses around the country have been paying attention to work environments and found that offices with large windows, tons of natural lighting and transparency between divisions promote productivity and collaboration. Now, there’s a noticeable spike in the use of interior glass walls and doors in offices around America.
If you’re looking to have glass doors and walls installed in your space, you’re probably curious about what options are out there. At Cypress Door & Glass LLC, we work directly with you every step of the way to make your glass door or glass wall project a success.
Architects have a lot to choose from when it comes to designing glass wall and door systems. Dormakaba or C.R. Laurence products are the most commonly used in the United States. They all have various fitting options and rail sizes to accommodate unique designs, functions and accessibility requirements.
Interior Glass Wall Options
For interior glass walls, the most cost-effective design uses small U-channels on the perimeter of the glass wall and patch fittings fixed on doors. This keeps the amount of metal to a minimum and glass at a maximum.
Glass options can vary greatly, though ½” clear tempered glass is most commonly used. Occasionally, low iron glass is requested, which eliminates the blue-green hue seen on the edge of a glass sheet. Another option is applying a film to the flat glass post-installation.
If budget is not a concern, you can request custom laminations by specialty vendors to create any design imaginable printed on the interlayer of a ½” laminate glass sheet.
Glass Door Options
Office entrance doors are trending towards being all glass, with accessibility, security, and budget at the top of mind.
Hardware such as handles, closers, upper and lower pivots, all affect how the door functions. We’ve spoken about how faulty doors are usually caused by closer issues. Closers are the mechanisms which automatically close the door after it’s been opened. When it comes to glass doors, most people opt for closers concealed above the door in the header. The Dorma RTS88 and Jackson closer by CRL are popular choices. Concealed floor closers are available too, with the Dorma BTS80 and Rixon model 27 or 28 being most commonly used.
The type of pivots used depends on the amount of clearance required under the door. Before installation, floor finishes and height are noted during field measurements and incorporated into the glass wall design.
Office security is more effectively managed nowadays thanks to a magnetic shear lock in the header or floor of glass doors. This allows employers to easily oversee the door locking system. A backup manual lock is also typically incorporated so the door can be locked with a standard key in the event of a power outage or magnetic lock system failure.
Keeping budget in mind, most offices use swinging glass doors over sliding ones. Sliding doors incur higher upfront costs because they require more shop drawings to layout the glass fabrication patterns accurately. On top of that, the installation process is more labor-intensive.
Finish Options
The type of finish used varies depending on your budget and requirements. Anodized finishes are more cost-effective, while finishes that require a cladding are more material and labor intensive. Common finishes include clear anodized, dark bronze anodized, black anodized, polished stainless steel, and brushed stainless steel.
Contact Cypress Door & Glass
Cypress Door & Glass LLC works directly with you to develop a glass door and wall system to fit your budget and meet your design requirements. Our estimators can provide budgetary pricing at any stage of your project to help you decide where to spend valuable resources.
Contact Cypress Door & Glass LLC today for more information on installing glass walls and doors.