There's nothing like a little fresh air. Those charged with designing Building 40 on the campus of pharmaceutical company Genentech in South San Francisco certainly knew that. That's why they integrated three Bifold Designer Doors from Schweiss Doors into the design of an employee cafe to create a pleasant indoor/outdoor dining environment.

Woods Bagot of San Francisco designed Building 40, which is a collaboration space tied between Buildings 44 and 45. The firm incorporated three Schweiss liftstrap doors into its design. The doors are 24', 21' and 19' wide, respectively, but all are 10'-10" tall. Each is equipped with top drive motors, automatic latching systems, remote openers, electric photo eye sensors, door base safety edges, warning lights and horn, and an emergency backup system that can be used in a power outage. Royal Glass Company of Rancho Cordova, CA, provided installation.

“The building has a café where people can hang out and a lot of conference rooms,” said Jeff Garmeson, Senior Project Manager for Royal Glass. “The doors are in the café area so they can open them up and have outside dining. The install was easy; everything went in fine. The most difficult part was on the electrical side. We don’t do that, but found a local door company that Schweiss works with to do that. The doors are wired into smoke, fire and security systems. If there is a security breach in any of Genentech’s buildings, the doors will automatically shut.”

This was a first time Schweiss Doors project and install for Royal Glass Company.

“The doors are a high-quality product that we would welcome using again,” Garmeson says. “The best part of using these doors was Schweiss customer service. Paul and Brent at Schweiss Doors maintained their patience and helped us through.”