I saw this door at a restaurant today.  The decor is meant to look like a garage, and it’s pretty cool – I especially liked the naked closers.  I did wonder about the main entrance door though.  It’s tough to tell from the photos, but the graphics from the wall run over the aluminum portions of the door and frame and across the glass, so the glass is tinted orange with the dark stripes running across.  You can barely see the word “extra” on the glass at the top of the door, but look at the window on the side of the vestibule – it’s the same treatment that’s on the door.  When I looked at it from my seat it looked dark orange just like the wall.

What do you think?
(The code excerpt is on this post.)

Update: So far the consensus on my favorite codes discussion board is that the door is visible enough.  I think I’ll have to go back for Happy Hour and take a picture without the bright sunlight behind the glass, because the door actually looks like the top half of the window near the hostess station (the bottom half of the window doesn’t have the graphic/tinting on the glass).  If anyone wants to go on a field trip, let me know.  🙂

Update #2: Here’s a close-up of the glass treatment…I think it’s similar to the advertisements on buses and other vehicles.  I’ll bet we’re going to see more of this on doors.

Update #3: Based on the close-up photo I added, the consensus from my code official friends is that this is a “no-go.”  The door shouldn’t blend in with the wall.  You could make the argument that a white door in a white wall blends, but I think the graphics make it less distinguishable than a plain door.  One thing to note…this type of treatment could be really cool on the exterior side of a door…as long as it’s not on the egress side.

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