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Gates and Doors (Non-Forged)
This category includes all gates and/or doors, excluding driveway gates, including custom castings and cold forged elements with less than 5% custom hand forgings.
Gold Winner:
La Forge De Style LLC
South Hackensack, New Jersey
These folding doors were designed by the designer. The finish is polished and lacquered steel, muntz metal, and bamboo. This was a commission for a set of doors that would function both as a divider as well as traditional double doors. The La Forge De Style team was only given the concept; a great deal of research and engineering had to be done to accomplish what was desired for doors of this size and weight. The designer wanted something unique, so it was decided that each panel would have a different pattern. The patterns are hand drawn and etched in the La Forge shop. The client provided bamboo panels that the La Forge team cut and fit into the other side of the doors. The frames are steel, the etched panels are muntz, and about 40% of the hardware is custom made including the latch handles. This was a fabricate-only project as the end product was shipped to another country for installation. The doors are 8’ tall x 8’ overall width, and the total weight is 660 lbs.
This project took approximately 747 hours.
Silver Winner:
Custom Metals Inc.
Madison, Wisconsin
After days of collaboration between the Custom Metals Inc., the architect, and an array of engineers, the most impressive part of this job is buried. The 2,000 lb gate operates on a single pivot and is easily opened by hand. A cross-shaped, leak-proof box houses the bearings and adjustment mechanisms in environmentally-safe lubricant (it’s an arid location and protected from infrequent rain, but you can’t be too careful). Removable tiles conceal the stainless lid. The visible portion of the gate consists of .125" copper plate on a curved stainless frame. The top edges of the copper were heated just to the melting point; the natural ripples and puckers resemble the peaks of mountains. Bright blue glass tucked between panels refers to turquoise deposits nearby. For security, an electromagnetic latch is built into the pier. Custom Metals Inc.'s clients initially liked the finishing marks and wanted the metal left bare, but when fingerprints showed so starkly against the copper they changed their minds.
This project took approximately 600 man hours.
Bronze Winner:
The Heirloom Companies
Campobello, South Carolina
This door was designed for a client that has an extensive art collection with an eclectic taste.
The Heirloom Companies team came up with the design to show the client's love for art and give her guest a little taste of what the collection was like inside. This was a remodel project where The Heirloom Companies team also had to demo the existing wooden doors, side lights, and transom. The door is made out of aluminum and stainless steel. Once the design was finalized, The Heirloom Companies team cut out most of the decorative shapes with their CNC plasma and used cold forging and shaping techniques. The doors and door jamb are held together entirely by hidden mechanical fasteners; the only welding involved was to TIG weld the decorative parts onto the doors. The finish is a water base metallic paint with a dry
brush faux finish on top.
This project took approximately 350 hours (time includes demolition of original doors).
