Last week I was able to squeeze in one last visit to the Museum of Fine Arts before security became so tight that I wouldn’t be allowed inside until I could enter as a paying customer sometime in 2010. After working on this project for almost 5 years, it gave me a thrill to see art arriving in crates and in multiple pieces.
There were many design elements on this project that required a lot of negotiation, research, and eventually some compromise in order to be code-compliant and functional, while still meeting the aesthetic intent. One of these areas of negotiation was the elevator lobby design, which required the entire area to be clad in stainless steel panels with a special finish.
My first response was that the fire-rated stairwell doors couldn’t be fully-clad with stainless steel due to the limits on protective plates, but we eventually found a door manufacturer that could apply the cladding according to their UL listings. The Von Duprin Inpact device was powder coated to match, and you can see the end result below.
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Is the stainless steel applied to a wood door or steel door?
That lobby looks very sleek and clean, dare I say sexy? Sort of futuristic.
Is that finish going to be difficult to keep free of hand prints and other grime?
The stainless is applied to a metal door. I’m not sure about the handprints but you can’t see them from my house. 🙂
The doorsets look very sleek and the workmanship looks excellent. My only concern would be the similarity in colour between the panic hardware and the door finish for anyone who has sight difficulties. In the UK we are frequently asked to be DDA compliant, where one of the standards is having a certain degree of shade difference. I would be interested to hear anyone’s opinion on this.
Many Thanks
Hugh McGrandles
Security Technologies
Martin Roberts Division
UK
Hi Hugh –
A while back I posted another photo from the same project, where a white door had a white Inpact device. A code official copied a link to the post onto a code official board and there was a lot of discussion about it. The code officials agreed that technically the application was code-compliant because we don’t have a written requirement for color variation between the door, the hardware, and the wall. I’d love to see the DDA standard you refer to, for future reference.
– Lori
Hi Lori,
What is the nomenclature to specify the 94-Series Inpact device with a stainless steel look?
Thanks,
Jon Thomasson
FINISH HARDWARE TECHNOLOGY
Panorama City, CA
x626 or us32d ?
The doors are a special stainless finish and the panics are powder coated to match.
I’m curious about the door manufacturer that could get the claddings according to their UL Listing. Is the same cladding that’s applied to the walls? Looks really slick!
To be honest, I have no idea how they got approval for that!
– Lori
The picture links aren’t working.
You can’t see the photos on the post? They are showing up for me.
– Lori