Single-Source Suppliers

When architects and interior designers decide to include glass partition systems in their designs, the market offers quite a number of product options. That said, a strong case can be made for choosing a single-source, turnkey supplier to deliver the full system.

For example, some manufacturers measure, build, and install the full system, thereby taking the burden off the architect/designer, contractor, and client, relates Leventhal. Less can go wrong, and there is one place to go if something needs to be adjusted or fixed.

“Working with one supplier minimizes the risk,” agrees James. “They oversee verifying all dimensions, checking for allowances in floor levels, and coordinating installation with the contractor, who is equally as important in understanding the process.”

Bennett adds that single-source suppliers ensure accountability for quality and functionality, leverage their knowledge of the full system to ensure that complex systems work together, and streamline commissioning and user training.

“Single-source vendors truly know their product backward and forward, and there is a level of clarity when dealing with them,” says Kelly Capp, a senior designer with The Switzer Group. “Providing the general contractor with a design element that does not require reconfiguration or additional detailing minimizes the possibility of errors.”

In minimizing the number of sources, this is also a great way to ensure compatibility of parts and interoperability, cut down on lead times, and increase the installation efficiency.

“Good specifiers can offer frames, glass, and hardware, allowing design teams to select the exact profiles they want, and ensuring the system is visually integrated with a project’s overall design concept,” explains Rodriguez. “The convenience factor is significant and highly valuable.”

The Bottom Line

Ultimately, the flexibility to manipulate and change spaces within the workplace is a great benefit to companies and employees. Filling this need, glass walls, demountable partitions, and prefabricated meeting rooms and conference spaces can be integrated into an office plan in cost-effective ways that create open, light-filled spaces.

“Reconfigurable glass walls are a great option for clients who are leasing their space in terms of flexibility, growth, and relocation,” Capp says. The same applies to space-saving barn doors, pocket doors, bifold solutions, and stacking sliders.

Offering some final food for thought, MacEwen challenges companies and designers to reevaluate how the boundaries within the floor plate are defined. Is a conference room simply a place to meet clients, or are there ways to enable it to give back to the surrounding space?

This nearly silent sliding glass door design functions as a transparent, daylit conference room and can be opened up to contribute to the larger open floor plan.

“I think the modern office needs to demand more than a single programmatic function. How can or does the idea of a conference room transcend its function and participate in the needs of the office, even if those needs are just daylight and views?” he concludes.

MEETING SAN FRANCISCO CODE WITH SLIDING GLASS DOORS

In the City of San Francisco, apartments and bedrooms are required to have access to a window as a source of both fresh air and light into the space. However, including a second bedroom can be quite challenging without significantly boosting the size and cost of the space.

In addressing this design quandary, the folks at Trinity Place in Mid-Market initially considered fixed pane glass openings with solid doors. In the end, a sliding glass door solution proved to be the most cost-effective and efficient.

At Trinity Place in San Francisco, sliding glass doors enabled the developer to build out two-bedroom units in a one-bedroom layout while meeting city code requirements for daylighting in living spaces.

Explaining the specifics of the city code, Steven Ronzone, the owner’s representative for Trinity Place, relates that the ability to deliver daylight through an interior glass opening is a code exception. The opening must be 50 percent of the square feet of the wall that is immediately adjacent to a living space that does have access to an outside window, and the glass opening must be directly into the room with no obstructions.

“By resolving the required access to natural light, we found that we could create a second interior bedroom in a typical apartment,” he explains.

At the same time, the calculations to determine the size of the interior glazed partition are very specific and impact the size and configuration of that second interior bedroom. Ultimately, Trinity Place was able to take the floor plate of a large one-bedroom unit and turn it into a two-bedroom apartment thanks to the sliding glass doors. In all, the glass doors are being designed for 400 of Trinity Place’s 1,900 units.

Offering some overall perspective on this kind of design solution, Ronzone explains that the ability to offer two bedrooms in a space that was originally limited to one bedroom contributes to the housing shortage in San Francisco, enables residents to share the rent with a second individual, and increases profit for developers/owners. “This is very significant, as the sliding glass doors can be added without significant increases in the overall project size or costs.”

Work Modalities

To help companies determine what types of spaces will optimally support its employees, DLR Group has developed six Work Modalities: Hard Focus, Soft Focus, Collaborate, Socialize, Learn, and Rejuvenate. Based on extensive research, the architects are using these modalities to help design a mix of appropriate workspaces for their clients.

“Designers have the opportunity to create healthy work environments where people can do their best work—through choice-based workplaces that are backed by research and tailored to the culture and people these spaces support,” writes Michael Vander Ploeg, a senior associate with DLR Group, in Work Design Magazine.

For example, creating reports or white papers falls under Hard Focus and required spaces that are visually simple and acoustically private with soft but clear lighting.

He concludes, “These design choices limit the decisions people must make to work in that setting, eliminating distractions and allowing them to direct their attention to the detailed tasks.”