THE door industry journal summer 2023 117 Also online at: www.dijonline.co.uk Locks & Building Hardware discord in their design, with end-users later requiring replacements or full redesigns to match their original plans. Colour matching carries even more weight when meeting the needs of visually impaired users, for example. Under the Equality Act 2010, it’s stated all new and refurbished public buildings must offer equal access to all users, ensuring safe entry and passage through a building regardless of disability, age of gender. Where only 5% of people that are blind can’t see anything at all, most have limited colour vision and perception of light and shade, and for this, an adequate level of visual contrast between building surfaces and their surrounding areas is mandatory. With this, design professionals must be conscious of Light Reflectance Values (LRV). LRV is understood as the universal scale used in architecture and interior design and is a way of measuring the amount of visible and usable light that is reflected from a surface when illuminated by a light source. In essence, it is important to assess the contrast between the door facings and ironmongery throughout specification, with standards recommending an LRV contrast of at least 30 points in order to comply with BS 8300-2:2018. Consistent by design The purpose of a consistent finish runs deeper than aesthetics alone. Together with its design benefits, a high-quality, durable material scheme can add value to a project by offering high wear and abrasion resistance, improving the overall usability of door furniture throughout a building’s lifecycle. Here, the specification of material schemes is often determined by project type and the location of the door itself. Stainless steel finishes for example, while offering clean aesthetics, are designed to add value in kitchen and bathroom spaces by offering naturally high resistance to moisture corrosion. On the other hand, stainless steel can often succumb to the harsh exposure of sunlight and as such, its use should generally be avoided in outside environments. Similarly, a high-grade physical vapor deposition (PVD) coating is also naturally corrosion resistant, but in addition, it offers users an extremely scratch resistant surface – making it suitable for high traffic environments such as hospitals and schools. With this in mind, design professionals must seek the most applicable material scheme throughout their project, opting for higher grades of materials where necessary. And where a single manufacturer may offer a continuous range of finishes of the same quality, the use of multiple suppliers can truly have the adverse effect. Comparably, low-cost substitutes are unlikely to match the reliability that premium finishes can offer. Much like users expect the mechanisms of door hardware to last throughout a building’s lifecycle, it is essential for material schemes stand the test of time too. Where ‘natural living’ finishes (such as unlacquered bronze and brass) are purposefully designed to react to the external environment and develop over time with the building, low-quality finishes may begin to fade unintentionally. Protective coatings (such as PVD or lacquered finishes) are designed to retain their quality regardless of the environment in which they’re installed. Even in high traffic areas, durable designs are more likely to retain their operational benefits over time, while also enduring decorative trends and leaving interiors intact for years to come. Inherently, decision makers are urged to chase quality above trends and low-cost substitutes. Where door hardware finishes are concerned, durability and cohesion are key in offering longer-lasting benefits and design professionals must look to work closely with trusted manufacturers and supply chains to ensure their choices match expectations. Because, while styles change and trends come and go, the basis for a high quality, consistent finish lies within the manufacturing process. After all, the details are always in the design.
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