The Systems Approach

For today's architectural applications, sliding hardware can best be considered as a hardware system rather than as assemblies of mix-and-match components. Still, the architect and project team should be familiar with all the essential components, many of which have survived since the era of the primitive sliding barn door. The key terminology includes the track, the trolley, the suspension that connects the trolley to the door or wall panel, and door guides and door stops. (This terminology is described in detail in the section “Reviewing the Basics” on page 4.)

Photo courtesy of Hawa Americas Inc.

Sliding hardware systems include a number of specialized components that work together, including the track, the trolley, the suspension that connects the trolley to the door or wall panel, and door guides and door stops.

Systems approach thinking also helps illuminate the various benefits of today's top-hung sliding hardware systems. The advantages combine both architectural form and function as well as health, efficiency, and sustainability—suggesting a number of pragmatic solutions to creating better interior space. In particular, architects describe the following benefits of sliding hardware systems:

Architectural Interest

By creating more malleable, integrated spatial arrangements, sliding doors enhance architectural function and meaning. Transitions between rooms, between indoors and out, and between protected areas and those dappled with sunlight, can be created with sliding doors due to a threshold condition that can be closed, fully open, or partially open. Moving walls assist daylight control and privacy, too.

Photo courtesy of Hawa Americas Inc.

For the placement of retracted panels in a large opening, sliding and stacking systems utilize curvilinear track interchanges engineered to smoothly move panels parallel or perpendicular to the opening.

Motion

Architecture that moves is not only functional but it's also dramatic and meaningful. This is especially true with top-hung hardware that moves two bi-parting doors simultaneously; move one door, and the door opposite moves in synch. (These symmetric doors, which some architects call “mirror doors,” are discussed in more detail in the section “Telescoping and Symmetrical Arrangements” on page 5.)

Space Savings

Efficiency of floor plan and interior uses can accrue from a single sliding door or wall panel. The relatively narrow tracks save space. The net effect is to make spaces look larger, especially when transparent panels are used.

Eliminates Door Swing

Also, the sliding door, like a traditional pocket door, needs no space for a swinging leaf or pivoting panel, meaning more floor area is available for programmatic needs. This related benefit is valuable for safety in some circumstances. For interior planning purposes, pivoting doors tend to intrude into occupant room, while sliding panels typically do not.

Cost Savings

Sliding doors and walls save space both in visual and practical terms. This means interior spaces and rooms generally can achieve as much or more while being more efficient in square footage.

Accessibility

Sliding door hardware can be employed to accommodate people with disabilities, such as the mobility impaired. Sliding doors are easy to move and operate with little force, so the door panels move out of the path of travel for people using walkers or wheelchairs. In this way, the sliding door presents no obstruction for most users, and it is an appropriate opening specification that meets the requirements of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).

Flexibility in Division of Space

“Beyond space savings, top-hung sliding doors allow new ways to divide up suites, classrooms, conference centers, and any other buildings that serve multiple functions and constituencies,” says Duckett. A simple linear door can neatly separate a kitchen from a laundry unit, giving it two uses. Many restaurants use top-hung sliding doors to set aside space for private parties, whether intimate or grand. Workplaces and learning environments can “break out” into smaller groups with all the requisite privacy, says Stuart Brodsky, AIA, LEED AP, an associate principal at Cannon Design who has used operable interior glass panels. “This flexibility allows access to shared resources and adapts spaces for small and large groups.”

Photos courtesy of Hawa Americas Inc.

Hardware for pivot/slide-in systems does not require a bottom guide channel to optimize flexibility and utilization, allowing for “hidden offices” and kitchenette storage and leaving an uncluttered look in the space.

Safety

In addition to easing movement between interior areas, sliding doors can reduce the collisions or disruptions of egress associated with traditional pivot doors. (Ever wonder why vision panels are specified in so many swinging doors?) Sliding doors ease the transition, and open the area for occupant movement.

Renovation Uses

Several benefits specific to top-hung sliding door hardware systems improve the success of renovation projects. First, compare them to bottom-rolling sliding systems that carry the weight of the door panels on the floor: In these cases, uneven or bumpy floors with material transitions must be corrected and completely leveled for the bottom-rolling hardware to work properly. Floor condition in a renovated building becomes critical. But this is less so for top-hung systems, which can tolerate some variations in floor level, conditions, and materials, such as a transition from high-pile carpet to tile or stone.

Clean Floor Plane

A related benefit is the visually clean and uncluttered floor expanse allowed with top-hung systems. The bottom-rolling types require a threshold or track on the floor—which not incidentally is also a physical obstacle and impediment, not just a visual obstruction. Top-hung sliding systems may eliminate the thresholds and floor tracks.

Clean Door, Jambs, and Ceiling

Above eye level, top-hung sliding hardware is easier to conceal than bottom-rollers and other opening systems. No door-jamb header is needed, and the track can be recessed into the ceiling.

Allowing spaces to be rearranged effortlessly and cleaning up the details of the interior—while also allowing for safer and more functional use—are perhaps the most essential reasons to use top-hung sliding hardware. With more interest in multifunctional interiors as well as indoor-outdoor architecture, sliding doors take many residential and commercial applications to new heights of efficiency and visual interest. It's no exaggeration to say that sliding door hardware can be considered integral to a building's environmental and design strategy.

Understanding the numerous ins and outs of sliding hardware systems—from materials to mounting, and from trolley to track—will help architects not only take advantage of these numerous benefits but also create better experiences for building owners and occupants.