A builder in the Philadelphia area was renovating an old farmhouse into a vacation getaway for a European executive. The interior designer wanted beautiful metal shower doors and metal shower partitions with glass in it. The design vision was for it to be in a modern industrial design. We proposed that all the metal would be aircraft grade aluminum, just like we would for exterior terrace railings. A huge benefit to using solid aircraft grade aluminum is it’s noncorrosive properties. This is especially useful for a damp environment such as the shower area.
The metal frame design is comprised of 1 ½ X 1 ¼ “ flat bar and ¾ “ flat bar with ¼ “ tempered glass inserted into it via a groove. The grid pattern was done with 3/8 x 1″ flat bars. When installed, the mainframe was at 1 ¼ “square and the grids provided the visual of 1” square bar, but with glass sandwiched between. With this ingenuous design and assembly, the tempered glass is one large sheet, as opposed to having many small pieces. This approach dramatically reduces the chance of any leaks.
A significant challenge to the design was the choice to have the bottom third of the doors and partitions one solid panel. This also significantly increased the weight of the doors which created the need to add more hinges. The design process was very grueling as there were many different tradesmen involved. The farmhouse floors had sagged, and the walls were uneven making it even more challenging. However, with lots of collaboration, these metal shower doors and partitions were installed in this vacation getaway in Philadelphia and can now be enjoyed for years to come!
