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The Steel Pivot Door |
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1998 The Steel Pivot Door Cnc plasma cut steel plate, pipe, angle
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©2025 CALVINO architecture studio, inc all contents of this publication whether in digital or analog format are the express property of CALVINOarchitecture studio, inc. and shall not be reproduced by any means without written consent from Mike Calvino |
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This was a present for my wife who did not like how dim the light was in the tiny shotgun house we were in. Made from left over cnc plasma cut steel verts from a rail project and a number of miscellaneous pieces of tempered glass from various sources, this door is 6ft wide and 6’8” tall. So it fit just under the bond beam of the house which was the top course of block and had a #5 bar in it. This allowed the block to be cut out under the bond beam for the entire 6’ width and still keep its structural integrity.
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The framing uses minimal material to be as transparent as possible. The main in-plane stability comes from a 2x4x/1/8” steel tube and the framing layout is defined by the sizes of existing tempered glass which cannot be cut. The left over space was small enough to be filled in with a piece of 1/4” polycarbonate that was in the studio racks. The glass is installed with a bead of butyl tape which was derived from the way windshields were put in cars in the early ’70’s. The Butyl has a tested peel strength and so wind load resistance can be calculated. |
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The door concepts—bearing hinge, glazing detail, lock, and others—have been used, tweaked, developed, and transformed into a few other projects . . . Some of them are linked here: |
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In these photos you can see a steel flat bar above the door opening. This is because when I cut out the wall the bond beam did not seem to be exactly and/or completely filled with concrete. I did not trust it so I bolted a piece of 1/4”x3” flat bar to each face of the header with 3/8” wedge anchors & made sure they went into the webs of the blocks. It worked out fine and was up there for nearly 20 years until the wall was taken out. |
