DESIGN/BUILDER PARTNER 

Turner International;

Dewan Architects + Engineers;

Arabian Construction Company

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PRODUCTS INSTALLED

CROWN SST II Bi-Fold Doors

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CHALLENGE

Emaar Properties is an award-winning, Dubai based real estate development company that is globally recognized for its proven expertise in retail, hospitality and leisure developments. Over the past 17 years, it’s main focus has been designing excellence, quality of the product, and timely completion of projects.

Fountain View is a prestigious mixed-used skyscraper development located in Downtown Dubai. Flanked on one side with fully serviced apartments and the other with a luxury 5-star hotel, this venue offers extravagant living at it’s best. For the convenience of the occupants and visitors, there is also an onsite retail center housing brand name stores.

The client and the project team wanted to incorporate bi-fold hydraulic doors for the retail space with weather resistant glass finishes. The latter feature was to provide much-needed sunshade during the scorching summers months of the region. During the completion of the structural works of the project, the client and contractor were accessing options available for bi-fold doors. However, none of them offered the hydraulic feature with the bi-fold door system which was a specific architectural requirement. The hydraulic feature in the Crown bi-fold door system made it a front runner for this project.

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SOLUTION

Gibca is the authorized distributor for Crown in the MENA Region offering the only hydraulically-operated bi-fold system available in the market today. The patented SST-II Hydraulic Bi-Folding System opens vertically, allowing smooth, quiet access between environments with just the press of a button. By incorporating the SST-II Bi-Folding door, the barrier between interior and exterior vanishes, giving it a free-flowing ambiance.

The SST-II was a perfect fit for the interior retail units since the walls fold to allow light and motion to easily move through space. Bifold Doors lift up and out, giving it a huge advantage by requiring less operating space in the front of the building. This was a huge bonus for the client as the valuable front area had the 2-piece bifold allowing more usable space.

Since the exterior of this door was facing the roadside area of the residential and commercial tower, the high wind load rating needed to be at least 90 mph. The glass itself along with the hanging weight of the frame and accessories made it a design challenge for the team to tackle. However, Crown bi-fold door partition frame easily and securely held the substantial weight of the glass while providing the benefits of the bi-fold feature.

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RESULT

The team achieved its challenging goal of obtaining a wind load of 90 mph with restructured mainframes and other intermediate accessories by increasing the thickness of frames. This allowed it to easily support the weight of the weather resistant glass wall. Our standard products are supplied with their own pre-hung frame. This helped us to easily position them in a rough opening and mechanically fasten or weld them into place.

Remote transmitters were also provided an infrared photo eye installed adjacent to the hydraulically operated door providing ease and safety of entry/exit. A lead-edge sensor was mounted to the bottom of the hydraulic door post as well. This sensor is programmed to stop and reverse the motion of the door panels providing further safety to staff and customers.

Gibca has always placed focus on ease of installation for all our products, including Crown bi-fold door partitions. Usually, installation for door and window systems that utilize separately-mounted mechanical lifting systems can be time-consuming and difficult. This often results in poor operation and frequent maintenance requirements. When we install the Crown Bi-fold Door System, we do it with ease and safety to ensure timely completion of the project. Our staff also takes the time to provide onsite training to show the occupants on the proper use and maintenance of the product. This prolongs the life of your product and ensures safe operation.

Visit our Crown products page to learn more.