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Developing a design culture that focuses on the entirety of a project from concept development to occupancy is an evolution. New generations move through the ranks, instilled with the fundamentals of the field while bringing forward new ideas. At the University of Kansas School of Architecture, Design, and Planning they've developed Studio 804, a non-profit program dedicated to giving last-year Masters students a hands-on experience with each stage of the design process. The students draft the drawings, procure the supplies, and pound the nails; completing one building per year. Impressive stuff all on its own, but on top of that, seven of Studio 804's projects have been LEED Platinum Certified. Needless to say, when Studio 804 first contacted Krownlab in 2013 for a sliding barn door hardware contribution we were thrilled.

When looking at sliding barn door hardware, your eye typically starts with the track. Barn door track systems have a tendency to make you think that they're doing all the work. In fact, the track and the trolleys do handle the weight load and the movement of the door. However, there is another critical piece to the system. It is small, yet incredibly important-- the bottom guide. Let's take a look at our barn door bottom guides for both wood and glass panels.

What is a barn door bottom guide? The purpose of the bottom guide is to keep the door plumb, preventing it from swinging and damaging the wall or baseboard. Sliding door guides simply help the door to travel in a straight line and are not load-bearing in any way.

• For wood (or similar material) panels: The door panel travels on top of the guide. We include a 1/2” diameter bottom guide pin.

• For glass (or similar material) panels: The door panel travels inside the guide. We include a small, sleek, stainless steel
  c-channel.

How is a sliding door guide installed? Both our bottom guide pin and small c-channel door guides are intended to be installed in the floor.

What good comes of offering a warranty on a product whose design is obsolete before the warranty period expires? Offering a [ten-year warranty on our sliding barn door hardware is only legitimate if you continue to be thrilled with our hardware long after it has become your hardware. Our goal is to create products that not only physically stand up to the test of time, but aesthetically withstand the test, too.

Starting with a foundation rooted in good design, our team has developed a sliding door track product line that will move through the decades (no pun intended) in harmony with your space. The image to the right (from a nearly ten-year-old article in Dwell magazine), features our sliding hardware specified not only as a functional fixture, but as an architectural detail meant to enhance the design wherever time may lead.

How do we know sliding doors are not a fad? Because the design challenge of dividing and uniting spaces will forever require innovative, specialized, and timeless solutions. Our original prototype (pictured, right) continues to be discovered and loved. We provide the structure that has near limitless pairing options to continue meeting changes within the world of design.

What about our warranty? We're an industry leader in the ten-year warranty we provide on all of our track systems for sliding doors.

At Krownlab, we understand that all quality hardware begins with quality materials. Stainless steel is the backbone of our Ragnar, Oden, Rob Roy, and Baldur lines-- we thought we'd share some insight as to why.

Stainless steel starts its life as carbon steel, an alloy consisting of iron ore and a small percentage of carbon and manganese. From this base alloy over 3,500 different grades of steel (1,500 of which are stainless) are produced according to the World Steel Association. The built environment truly owes its existence to this metal.

To achieve stainless status, chromium, nickel, and molybdenum elements are added to the carbon steel alloy. As the percentage of each additional element is changed, so are the properties of the stainless as well as the series/grade.

We're so proud to have been featured on Portland Made as a Portland-based company that does its sourcing as close-to-home as possible. From the Portland Made website:

"Portland Made is a self-sustaining collective of makers, artisans and manufacturers that advocates and supports its members by providing education and marketing, a shared resource hub, and a brand that promotes their products locally and globally."

Krownlab is very proud to be the recipient of the Architectural Products Magazine Product Innovation Awards '14. Oden Bamboo was featured in the November 2014 issue of the magazine. Of the product, Architectural Products said:

"With bamboo veneer and an FSC-certified heavily compressed paper and wood pulp core, Oden Bamboo sliding door hardware is both handsome and surprisingly rigid. Available in three mounting stiles, two standard track lengths, or made-to-measure, the hardware offers a nice aesthetic. Judges said: "Wonderfully detailed and with a precision that suits its hardiness."

When we first received architectural drawings for C1 Bank Miami from Wannemacher Jensen Architects, Rob Bowen Design, and T2theS Design + Build, in St. Petersburg, Florida, we were puzzled; no one had proposed installing our barn door hardware on movable pods before.

Wannemacher Jensen Architects, Rob Bowen Design, and T2theS Design + Build are constantly pushing the envelope on residential and commercial interiors. We love the choice of a bold damask wallpaper against crisp white walls--and the idea that banks don't have to be plastered in imitation wood veneer.