Ahmadinejad Zaini College of Engineering

Department of Architectural Engineering

2201 - Building Construction & Materials
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Doors and windows

[Architectural openings to design]
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student work: Wissam Abed Al-Baqi
Ashraf Swan

Student ID: 21911517

21910413

Date: OCT,27-2020
 Doors and windows
[Architectural openings to design]

1. Doors
introduction
A door is a hinged or otherwise movable barrier that allows ingress into and egress
from an enclosure. The created opening in the wall is a doorway or portal. A door's
essential and primary purpose is to provide security by controlling access to the
doorway (portal). Conventionally, it is a panel that fits into the portal of a building,
room, or vehicle. Doors are generally made of a material suited to the door's task.
Doors are commonly attached by hinges, but can move by other means, such as
slides or counterbalancing.

Doors may have aesthetic, symbolic, ritualistic purposes. Receiving the key to a
door can signify a change in status from outsider to insider.

The earliest recorded doors appear in the paintings of Egyptian tombs, which show
them as single or double doors, each of a single piece of wood.

The most ancient doors were made of timber, such as those referred to in the
False door of Nykara, c. 2408 BC,
Biblical depiction of King Solomon's temple being in olive wood, which were painted limestone, 168 x 111.5 x 6
carved and overlaid with gold. The doors that Homer mentions appear to have cm, Cleveland Museum of Art.
been cased in silver or brass. Besides olive wood, elm, cedar, oak and cypress were
used.

Copper and its alloys were integral in medieval architecture. The doors of the church of the Nativity at Bethlehem
(6th century) are covered with plates of bronze, cut out in patterns. Those of Hagia Sophia at Constantinople, of the
8th and 9th century, are wrought in bronze, and the west doors of the cathedral of Aix-la-Chapelle (9th century), of
similar manufacture, were probably brought from Constantinople, as also some of
those in St. Marks, Venice. The bronze doors on the Aachen Cathedral in Germany
date back to about 800 AD.

Design and styles

There are many kinds of doors, with different purposes. The most common type is the
single-leaf door, which consists of a single rigid panel that fills the doorway. There are
many variations on this basic design, such as the double-leaf
door or double door and French windows, which have two
adjacent independent panels hinged on each side of the
doorway.
[1] A Dutch door with the top
 A half door or Dutch door or stable door is divided in half open, in South Africa.
half horizontally. Traditionally the top half opens so a
worker can feed a horse or other animal while the
bottom half remains closed to keep the animal inside. This style of door has been
adapted for homes. [ fig.1]
Saloon doors ]2[
 Saloon doors are a pair of lightweight swing doors often found in public bars, and
especially associated with the American west. Saloon doors,
also known as cafe doors, often use bidirectional hinges that close the door regardless
of which direction it opens by incorporating springs. Saloon doors that only extend
from knee-level to chest-level are known as batwing doors. [fig.2]

A blind door, Gibb ]3[

door, or jib door
 A blind door, Gibb door, or jib door has no visible trim or operable components. It blends with the adjacent wall in
all finishes, to appear as part of the wall—a disguised door. [fig.3]
 A French door consists of a frame around one or more transparent or translucent panels (called lights or
lites) that may be installed singly, in matching pairs, or even as series. A matching pair of these doors is
called a French window, as it resembles a door-height casement window. When a pair of French doors is
used as a French window, the application does not generally include a central mullion (as do some casement
window pairs), thus allowing a wider unobstructed opening. The frame typically requires a weather strip at
floor level and where the doors meet to prevent water ingress. An espagnolette bolt may let the head and
foot of each door be secured in one movement. The slender window
joinery maximizes light into the room and minimizes the visual impact of
the doorway joinery when considered externally. The doors of a French
window often open outward onto a balcony, porch, or terrace and they
may provide an entrance to a garden. [fig.4]
 A louvred door has fixed or movable wooden fins (often called slats or
louvers) which permit open ventilation while preserving privacy and
preventing the passage of light to the interior. Being relatively weak
French door ]4[ structures, they are most commonly used for wardrobes and drying
rooms, where security is of less importance than good ventilation,
although a very similar structure is commonly used to form window shutters. Double louvred doors were
introduced into Seagate, built in Florida in 1929 by Gwendolyn and Powel Crosley, that provided the desired
circulation of air with an added degree of privacy in that it is impossible to see through the fins in any
direction. [fig.5]
louvred door ]5[
 A steel security door is one which is made from strong steel, often for use on
vaults and safe rooms to withstand attack. These may also be fitted with
wooden outer panels to resemble standard internal and external doors. [fig.6]
 A composite door is a single leaf door that can be solid or with glass, and is
usually filled with high density foam. In the United Kingdom. [fig.7]
 A flush door is a completely smooth door,
having plywood or MDF fixed over a light
timber frame, the hollow parts of which are
often filled with a cardboard core material. [7
Skins can also be made out of hardboards. ] A composite door
 A moulded door has the same structure as
that of flush door. The only difference is that the surface material is a
moulded skin made of MDF. Skins
can also be made out of hardboards.
 A ledge and brace door often called
board
steel security door ]6[ and
batten
doors
are made
from multiple
vertical boards [8] A ledge and brace door
fixed together
by two or more horizontal timbers called ledges (or
battens) and sometimes kept square by
additional diagonal timbers called braces.
[fig.8]

.A wicket gate in the Palais des Papes (Avignon) ]9[

  A wicket door is a pedestrian door built into a much larger door allowing access without requiring
the opening of the larger door. Examples might be found on the ceremonial door of a cathedral or
in a large vehicle door in a garage or hangar. [fig.9]
 A bifold door is a unit that has several sections, folding in pairs. Wood
is the most common material, and doors may also be metal or glass.
Bifolds are most commonly made for closets, but may also be used as
units between rooms. Bi-fold doors are essentially now doors that let
the outside in. They open in concert; where the panels fold up against
one another and are pushed together when opened. The main door
panel (often known as the traffic door) is accompanied by a stack of
panels that fold very neatly against one another when opened fully,
which almost look like room dividers. [fig.10]
 A sliding glass door, sometimes called an Arcadia door or patio
[10] A bifold door
door, is a door made of glass that slides open and sometimes
has a screen (a removable metal mesh that covers the door).
[fig. 11]

Different types of door mechanism

Hinged doors

Most doors are hinged along one side to allow the door to pivot away from A sliding glass door ]11[
the doorway in one direction, but not the other. The axis of rotation is usually
vertical. In some cases, such as hinged garage doors, the axis may be
horizontal, above the door opening.

Doors can be hinged so that the axis of rotation is not in the plane of the door to reduce the space required on the
side to which the door opens. This requires a mechanism so that the axis of rotation is on the side other than that in
which the door opens. This is sometimes the case in trains or airplanes, such as for the door to the toilet, which
opens inward.

A swing door has special single-action hinges that allow it to open either outwards or inwards, and is usually sprung
to keep it closed.

Sliding doors

It is often useful to have doors which slide along tracks, often for space or aesthetic considerations.

A bypass door is a door unit that has two or more sections. The doors can slide in either direction along one axis on
parallel overhead tracks, sliding past each other. They are most commonly used in closets to provide access one side
of the closet at a time. Doors in a bypass unit overlap slightly when viewed from the front so they don't have a visible
gap when closed.

Rotating doors

A revolving door has several wings or leaves, generally four, radiating from a
central shaft, forming compartments that rotate about a vertical axis. A
revolving door allows people to pass in both directions without colliding, and
forms an airlock maintaining a seal between inside and out.

A pivot door, instead of hinges, is supported on a bearing some distance away

from the edge, so that there is more or less of a gap on the pivot side as well
as the opening side. In some cases, the pivot is central, creating two equal
openings. [fig.12]

A pivot door ]12[

Automatic

Automatically opening doors are powered open and closed either by electricity, spring, or both. There are several
methods by which an automatically opening door is activated:

1. A sensor detects traffic is approaching. Sensors for automatic doors are generally:
o A pressure sensor – e.g., a floor mat which reacts to the pressure of someone standing on it.
o An infrared curtain or beam which shines invisible light
onto sensors; if someone or something blocks the beam
the door is triggered open.
o A motion sensor which uses low-power microwave radar
for the same effect.
o A remote sensor (e.g. based on infrared or radio waves)
can be triggered by a portable remote control, or is
installed inside a vehicle. These are popular for garage
doors.
2. A switch is operated manually, perhaps after security
Automatically opening doors ]13[
checks. This can be a push button switch or a swipe card.
3. The act of pushing or pulling the door triggers the open and
close cycle. These are also known as power-assisted doors.

In addition to activation sensors, automatically opening doors are generally fitted with safety sensors. These are
usually an infrared curtain or beam, but can be a pressure mat fitted on the swing side of the door. The safety sensor
prevents the door from colliding with an object by stopping or slowing its motion. A mechanism in modern
automatic doors ensures that the door can open in a power failure. [fig.13]

Applications
Architectural doors have numerous general and specialized uses. Doors are generally used to separate interior
spaces (closets, rooms, etc.) for convenience, privacy, safety, and security reasons. Doors are also used to secure
passages into a building from the exterior, for reasons of climate control and
safety.

A pet door (also known as a cat flap or dog door) is an opening in a door to allow
pets to enter and exit without the main door's being opened. It may be simply
covered by a rubber flap, or it may be an actual door hinged on the top

Construction and components

Panel doors
Panel doors, also called stile and rail doors, are built with frame and panel
construction. [fig.14] [
Construction ]14
 Stiles – Vertical boards that run the full height of a door and
compose its right and left edges. The hinges are mounted to the
fixed side (known as the "hanging stile"), and the handle, lock, bolt
or latch are mounted on the swinging side (known as the "latch stile").
 Rails – Horizontal boards at the top, bottom, and optionally in the middle of a door that join the
two stiles and split the door into two or more rows
of panels. The "top rail" and "bottom rail" are
named for their positions. The bottom rail is also
known as "kick rail". A middle rail at the height of
the bolt is known as the "lock rail", other middle
rails are commonly known as "cross rails".
  Mullions – Smaller optional vertical boards that run between two rails, and split the door into two
or more columns of panels, the term is used sometimes for verticals in doors, but more often (UK
and Australia) it refers to verticals in windows.
 Muntin – Optional vertical members that divide the door into smaller panels.
 Panels – Large, wider boards used to fill the space between the stiles, rails, and mullions. The
panels typically fit into grooves in the other pieces, and help to keep the door rigid. Panels may be
flat, or in raised panel designs. Can be glued in or stay as a floating panel.
 Light – a piece of glass used in place of a panel, essentially giving the door a window. [ fig. 15]
Board batten doors
Also known as ledges and braced, Board and batten doors are an older design consisting primarily of
vertical slats:
Planks – Boards wider than 9" that extend the full height of the door, and are placed side by side filling the
door's width.
Ledges and braces – Ledges extend horizontally across the door which the boards are affixed to. The ledges
hold the planks together. When diagonally they are called braces which prevent the door from skewing. On
some doors, especially antique ones, the ledges are replaced with iron bars that are often built into the
hinges as extensions of the door-side plates.
Impact-resistant doors
Impact-resistant doors have rounded stile edges to dissipate energy and minimize edge chipping,
scratching and denting. The formed edges are often made of an engineered material. Impact-resistant
doors excel in high traffic areas such as hospitals, schools, hotels and coastal areas .

Dimensions
United States
Standard door sizes in the US run along 2" increments. Customary sizes have a height of 78" (1981 mm) or
80" (2032 mm) and a width of 18" (472 mm), 24" (610 mm), 26" (660 mm), 28" (711 mm), 30" (762 mm) or
36" (914 mm). Most residential passage (room to room) doors are 30" x 80" (762 mm x 2032 mm).
A standard US residential (exterior) door size is 36" x 80" (91 x 203 cm). Interior doors for wheelchair
access must also have a minimum width of 3'-0" (91 cm). Residential interior doors are often somewhat
smaller being 6'-8" high, as are many small stores, offices, and other light commercial buildings. Larger
commercial, public buildings and grand homes often use doors of greater height. Older buildings often
have smaller doors.
Thickness: Most pre-fabricated doors are 1 3/8" thick (for interior doors) or 1 3/4" (exterior).
Closets: small spaces such as closets, dressing rooms, half-baths, storage rooms, cellars, etc. often are
accessed through doors smaller than passage doors in one or both dimensions but similar in design.
Garages: Garage doors are generally 7'-0" or 8'-0" wide for a single-car opening. Two car garage doors
(sometimes called double car doors) are a single door 16'-0". Because of size and weight these doors are
usually sectional. That is split into four or five horizontal sections so that they can be raised more easily and
don't require a lot of additional space above the door when opening and closing. Single piece double
garage doors are common in some older homes.

Types
New exterior doors are largely defined by the type of materials they are made from: wood, steel,
fiberglass, UPVC/vinyl, aluminum, composite, glass (patio doors).

 Wooden doors – including solid wood doors – are a top choice for many homeowners, largely
because of the aesthetic qualities of wood. Many wood doors are custom-made, but they have
several downsides: their price, their maintenance requirements (regular painting and staining) and
their limited insulating value, Wood doors often have an overhang requirement to maintain a
warranty. An overhang is a roof, porch area or awning that helps to protect the door and its finish
from UV rays.
 Steel doors are another major type of residential front doors; most of them come with a polyurethane or
other type of foam insulation core – a critical factor in a building's overall comfort and efficiency. Steel doors
mostly in default comes along with frame and lock system, which is a high cost efficiency factor compared to
Wooden doors.

Windows:
Introduction:
A window is an opening in a wall, door, roof or vehicle that allows the passage of light and may also
allow the passage of sound and sometimes air. Modern windows are usually glazed or covered in some
other transparent or translucent material, a sash set in a frame in the opening; the sash and frame are
also referred to as a window. Many glazed windows may be opened, to allow ventilation, or closed, to
exclude inclement weather. Windows may have a latch or similar mechanism to lock the window shut
or to hold it open by various amounts.
The Romans were the first known to use glass for windows, a technology likely first produced in Roman
Egypt, in Alexandria ca. 100 AD.
In the 13th century BC, the earliest windows were unglazed openings in a roof to admit light during the
day. Later. windows were covered with animal hide, cloth, or wood. Shutters that could be opened and
closed came next.

What are the factors affecting the selection of windows?

The selection of suitable windows in a particular place should be dependent on the following factors:
1. Location of room
2. Size of room
3. Direction of wind
4. Climatic conditions
5. Utility of room
6. Architectural point of view

Types:
 1. Fixed windows are fixed to the wall without any
closing or opening operation. In general, they are
provided to transmit the light into the room. Fully
glazed shutters are fixed to the window frame. The
shutters provided are generally weatherproof.

2. Sliding Windows In this case, window shutters are

movable in the frame. The movement may be horizontal or vertical based on our
requirements. The movement of shutters is done by the provision of roller
bearings. Generally, this type of window is provided in buses, bank counters,
shops, etc.

3. Double hung windows consist of pair of shutters attached to one frame. The shutters are

arranged one above the other. These two shutters can slide vertically with in the frame.

So, we can open the windows on top or at bottom to our required level. To operate the

double hung windows, a chain or cord consisting metal weights is metal provided which

is connected over pulleys. So, by pulling the weights of cord the shutters can move

vertically. Then we can fix the windows at our required

position of ventilation or light etc..

4. Pivoted Windows: In this type of windows, pivots are

provided to window frames. Pivot is a shaft which helps to

oscillate the shutter. No rebates are required for the frame. The swinging may either

horizontal or vertical based on the position of pivots.

5. Double-paned windows: have two parallel panes (slabs of

glass) with a separation of typically about 1 cm; this space is

permanently sealed and filled at the time of manufacture with dry air or other dry

nonreactive gas. Such windows provide a marked

improvement in thermal insulation (and usually in acoustic

insulation as well) and are resistant to fogging and frosting

caused by temperature differential. They are widely used for

residential and commercial construction in intemperate

climates.
 6. Casement windows are the widely used and common windows nowadays. The shutters

are attached to frame and these can be opened and closed like door shutters. Rebates are

provided to the frame to receive the shutters. The panels of shutters may be single or

multiple. Sometimes wired mesh is provided to stop entering of fly’s.

Frame and sash construction

Frames and sashes can be made of the following materials:

Thermal Recycl
Durabilit Maintenanc
Material resistanc Cost d
y e
e conten

very averag
Wood variable low high
good e

uPVC very very averag very

very low
("vinyl") good good* e low

very typical
Aluminum good very low low
good** y > 95%

Composit very
good very low high high
es good

Steel medium superior very low high > 98%

 joints

very very mediu

Fiberglass very low high
good good* m

Window components:

Pivoted Windows Double-paned windows

Door and Window Hinges:
     The hinges are commonly available in steel (plain and oxidized), brass and aluminium. It is prudent
to use steel for heavy doors compared to aluminium, as they contain plastic washers in them tend
to wear away soon under heavy loads.
The following are the standard door and window hinges:
Butt hinges
They are routinely used for doors and windows.

Pin hinges
They are alike to butt hinges, but the central pin can be removed so that the two can be individually
fixed one to the frame and the other to the shutter.
 Parliament hinges
These hinges are very useful in planning doors for passages. They allow the doors and windows to be
kept open, with the help of shutter resting parallel to the wall.

Garnet hinges
They are also known as T hinge in which short arm is screwed to the door frame. They are generally used
for ledged and battened doors.

Counter flap hinges

It has three parts with two pin centres so that the two leaves can be folded back to back, normally used
in folding doors.
Strap hinges
They are used usually with Garnet (T) hinge for heavy doors for gates, garages and also ledged and laced
doors.

Spring hinges
Single acting and double acting types are available in mild steel, (plain and oxidized) aluminium and brass,
which are used for automatically closing shutters.

Piano hinges
These hinges are generally used for shutters of cupboards, wardrobes, etc.

Rising butt hinges

These hinges are used for automatically closing doors. The shutter when opened rises up and when left
closes itself by gravity.

Door and Window Bolts

     Bolts are a common fixture to doors and windows and are available in aluminium, brass or mild steel.
1. Tower Bolts are commonly used on doors and windows and are available in aluminium, steel and
brass.
2. Sliding door bolts are used for doors where padlocks are used.
3. Flush bolts are used for cupboards and sliding windows for bolting the shutter flush with the exterior
surface.

1 2 3

Hasp and Staple

The part with the hinged extension is the hasp, and the fixed part with hook is the staple. They can be
of two types, the safety type is made of mild steel, cast brass or aluminium, and the wire type is usually
made of steel.
Door Handles
    There are various types of handles made of mild steel, aluminium alloys and brass which are usually
fitted to doors.

Door Locks
There are several types of locks available in the market for fitting to doors and generally used ones
Mortice lock:
This is known by this name as the locking part is placed in a mortice. They are available in two types,
vertical and horizontal and consist of two bolts, latch bolt and lock bolt.

Mortice deadlock:
 This lock has only a lock bolt operated by a key and needs another device to keep it closed when it is
unlocked.
Rim locks: 
This lock is fixed to the face of the doors and preferred when the door is too thin to accommodate a
mortice lock.

Pad locks:
These pad locks are of various types that can be used to lock doors fitted with sliding door bolts.

Cupboard and wardrobe locks:

These are heavy and light duty locks, usually made of brass and are fitted to the side of the moveable
shutter.

References:

 WHAT IS A SLIDING WINDOW? | GREENVIEW WINDOWS

 What Are Double-Hung Windows? Review the Pros and Cons

 Casement window | architecture | Britannica

  This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Spiers, Richard Phené
(1911). "Door". In Chisholm, Hugh (ed.).  Encyclopædia Britannica.  8  (11th ed.). Cambridge University
Press. pp.  419–420.
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