Jade Signature – Monumental Entrances

Client: Suffolk Construction

Sunny Isles Beach, FL

The Jade Signature project is the definitive example of multiple Dash Door & Glass product and service groups combining talent and experience to deliver a unique solution. The project demanded and inspired creative solutions from the entire team.

Working closely with Pritzker Prize-winning architects Herzog & de Meuron of Basel, Switzerland, Dash Door & Glass provided all the amenity level aluminum and glass doors – including engineering, sequence of operation consulting, access control coordination, installation and design of some very custom add-ons. Dash Door has a long history of leveraging expertise in automatic doors, glass and glazing and custom hardware integration. When combined with an understanding of Miami’s hurricane code and product testing requirements, Dash Door was identified as an ideal partner.

Dash Door designed, furnished and installed the amenity doors that serve the common areas on the first level at pool and beachfront, second level main lobby entrance at the front of the building, second level deck access, as well as the fourth level fitness areas.

Jade Signature is an elegant tower on the beach. The project uses structure in the most basic way, according to the architects. Each unit in the 57-story building is designed to offer spectacular views and offer protection from the sun, heat and, at times, hurricanes.

Unique Building – Bespoke Doors

Every design detail for Jade Signature mattered, right down to how the doors on the common amenity levels would be installed. The commercial exterior doors envisioned by architects Herzog & de Meuron consist of many “firsts.”

Construction for the Jade Condos started in 2013. Herzog & de Meuron was already in talks about the project with Blasi GmbH, a German manufacturer of custom engineered automatic doors and partner vendor to Dash Door. Blasi GmbH tapped Dash Door to quarterback the project stateside. Dash Door developed the initial design intent into a final integrated design via iterative project submittals, while simultaneously conducting impact testing with manufacturer partner Enviralum Industries Inc. at a local lab. All efforts were focused on gaining the necessary, and sometimes elusive, Florida Product Approval while meeting the aggressive project schedule.

Assembling the Team

Dash Door relied on the expertise of partner-vendors to help fast-track the innovative designs that were being created as the project developed.

· Blasi GmbH and record-usa worked closely with Dash Door for the in-ground operators with custom wind-dampening modules.

· Dormakaba worked with Dash Door by supporting the hurricane testing with the Precision brand 2800 Series panic device with various electrified hardware options and power supplies.

· Miami-based commercial door manufacturer Enviralum Industries Inc. collaborated closely with Dash Door in attaining the Florida Product Approval for the project with their ENV-350 system storefront doors featuring a unique in-swing configuration.

· Third party engineering services and peer-review were conducted by Al-Farooq Corporation to ensure Dash Door’s inside engineering was not operating in box.

Coordination of an in-ground operator, recessed concealed vertical rod bottom floor strike, terrazzo operator covers with special wiring conduit paths for the various elements — all of these concerns had to be addressed before Dash Door could submit the final configurations for testing in the lab. The doors were released for initial fabrication prior to receipt of the final product approval in order to meet the project schedule. The team was confident that their up-front coordination had captured all of the considerations and requirements so that revisions would not be needed.

Challenge: No Thresholds Allowed

To preserve the desired aesthetic of the terrazzo floor pattern, both the client developer Fortune International Group and the Herzog & de Meuron design team insisted on threshold-free lobby doors. This presented a challenge when considering South Florida’s stringent high velocity / hurricane impact wind zone building code. Typically, thresholds are used as the standard platform for hurricane locking for aluminum / glass doors in South Florida.

With the clock ticking, Dash Door coordinated a unique flush / removable terrazzo cover that conceals Blasi’s C 127-SU in-ground automatic operator units present at the majority of the doors. The removable cover design drawings were provided by Dash Door and coordinated with the terrazzo subcontractor for the project. They completely conceal the operator motor gearbox and controller within the concrete slab cutouts.

A welded, marine-grade stainless steel floor strike / receiver is concealed beneath the removable terrazzo cover and is attached directly to the concrete substrate below. The covers are two pieces and permit removal around the fixed strike receiver. The strike receives the door concealed vertical rods used in locking.

Besides consistency of the very fluid surrounding floor patterns, the lack of a threshold eliminates a tripping hazard and allows travel bags to roll in smoothly.

Challenge: No Door Jambs

Next, Dash Door was faced with another unique request when the architect suggested attaching the main entrance door leafs directly to the curtainwall, thereby eliminating the customary door sub-jambs. Knowing this would set off alarm bells at the Florida Product Approval offices, Dash Door tried to steer the team in a different direction — especially since product approval deadlines were looming and this had not yet been accomplished prior between two different manufacturer’s to the team’s knowledge.

In the end, the Dash Door engineering team pushed forward. The resulting detail provided for a much narrower visual profile at the main entrances, and the aesthetic vision became a reality. Direct attachment of coordinated reinforcing at the curtainwall mullion required more precise erection tolerances in order to accommodate and ensure proper operation of the oversized entrance doors.

Challenge: Picture Frame Aesthetic

The final detail for the door design was to “picture frame” the glass stops to conceal all structural silicone after the glass was installed in the doors. Rather than paint a standard stile and rail door, Dash Door collaborated with a long-time local cladding / sheet metal vendor partner — an artisan really — to provide an exceptional solution. Several options were presented, but the final option selected includes no visible seams on the front and back door faces – the high performance Kynar paint system cladding is applied in such a way whereas there are no vertical or horizontal seams visible on the door faces. The doors have two very large pieces of cladding with seams only on the front nose and rear stiles of the door (not visible from the interior or exterior door face).

Product Innovation: Automated Wind-Dampening

Being situated on the beach in Miami Dade County’s High Velocity Hurricane Zone (HVHZ) requires preparedness as a priority. High winds right off the beach can make it very hard to open or close a door. The Jade Signature project team permitted Dash Door the flexibility to develop a new idea to address wind in a novel way. By utilizing Blasi’s intelligent auto operator controller in tandem with a custom Dash Door PLC (Programmable Logic Controller), the team created a new standard by installing a beachside wind anemometer, which ties directly as inputs to the behavior of the doors themselves.

The anemometer monitors when high wind speeds may create unsafe conditions. For example, high winds can “grab a door like a sail” and rip it off its hinges. The anemometer provides data to a PLC built by Nick Curci, Dash Door’s Access Control Department Head. Similar to a fire alarm signal, the PLC signals a wind-dampening module directly on each in-ground auto door operator provided by Blasi. These in-ground operators have custom wind-dampening modules that automatically control door resistance when activated.

The wind dampener is activated when it receives a signal from the wind anemometer to PLC signal chain, or when power is cut to the operators. Like a vehicle’s transmission, the dampener lessens the effect of the wind by “shifting” the door into “low gear,” creating a much safer condition. The door cannot be pushed open or closed quickly by the wind or be ripped off its hinges by high winds.

Product Innovation: In-swing Door with ”Panic Guard”

The first level amenity doors serve the beach and beach bar areas of Jade Signature. These doors are heavy due to their large dimensions (up to 10’ tall and 48” wide) and the use of high performance insulated glass with Low-E reflective coatings. The glass units are 1-5/16” insulated.

These doors have a unique storefront Florida hurricane impact approval as an in-swing with a panic device. This allows ingress on the upper levels and protection from the wind at other locations.

This in-swing door configuration has a “panic guard” to protect against a large missile impact / projectile hitting the panic device on the exterior face and opening the door. It is specially designed to take that impact as a removable “cage.” This panic guard is installed prior to a hurricane event and is a temporary protection feature that is unique to this Florida Building Code approval.

Summary

Jade Signature Condominiums is a standout in the luxury real estate market for the vision, innovation and drive it required from a dedicated team of professionals across many fields.

There was an unparalleled commitment by the owner and design team to develop a state-of-the-art installation. Dash Door was able to quarterback the effort by leveraging the experience of and collaboration between ALL of the product and service groups. The result was an extraordinary confluence of doors, glazing and automation technology.

Construction Specifier Magazine’s August 2018 cover feature details Dash Door & Glass efforts through the project to deliver a one-of-a-kind product design.

Construction Specifier online version available here.

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