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Why pocket doors are essential for modern apartments

Sliding Pocket Doors

Pocket doors are the ultimate solution for luxury apartments. Charlie Purdom from Selo explains why today’s pocket door systems should be an essential consideration in luxury apartment design.

Gone are the days when pocket doors required regular cleaning and lubrication and were difficult to install. Today’s pocket door systems are easy to install, are available in a wide choice of designs and offer a high-performance door solution. So, why are pocket doors such a good choice for apartment living?

Additional Space

In apartments and any smaller home or room, optimizing the available space is key. Pocket doors are recognized space savers and allow the occupiers to use the full footprint of the rooms where they are installed. A conventional door will need a radius of around three feet to open, which means around 10 square feet of space needs to be kept free for the door to function. This is all space that could be used for something else.

Flexible Use of Space

By specifying pocket doors, joining two rooms into one larger space is possible if required. A common example of this is where the dining room and kitchen or dining room and lounge can be opened up into one large space for entertaining. The specification of pocket doors in this way means that if opened, pocket doors would enable people to move freely between both halves of the larger space in a way that wouldn’t be possible with conventional doors.

Design Options

Although often thought of as a more modern door design that was first seen in the 1950s, pocket doors were, in fact, commonly used in the 1800s. This illustrates that, depending on their design, they can be perfect for creating a minimalist modern and traditional ornate design or refurbishing a period property. Modern pocket door systems don’t require the floor tracks that were a feature of older pocket door designs and can even be completely invisible when they’re not in use.

Easy Installation

Although the specification and installation of a pocket door system should be undertaken by a professional installer to ensure factors such as wall width and the location of internal electrics and pipework in adjacent walls are carefully considered, the installation of a modern pocket door system is a relatively quick and easy process. We offer architects and installers a dedicated project support service – Halo Assist- to ensure your project goes as smoothly as possible. Halo Assist provides expert guidance and advice at every stage of a project, from design to installation.

The Need for a System-led Approach

Sliding pocket doors are often created by installers and contractors by sourcing a variety of components from multi-manufacturers that may or may not be compatible. This impacts durability and product performance.

Design & Durability

The pocket formation needs to be slim but also strong, perfectly aligned and plumb. This is not easy to achieve, especially when a range of incompatible products are used to create a pocket door system.

Acoustic and Fire Ratings

In this regard, modern pocket door systems such as Selo’s “Enigma” range are completely different from their historic counterparts. All products in the Enigma range can be acoustic, Smoke and Fire-Rated to give specifiers and end-users complete peace of mind regarding noise and fire risk.

For more information about Enigma pocket doors or to discuss your project, please contact the Enigma team sales@enigmapocketdoors.com

If you have any technical questions please email technical@enigmapocketdoors.com