Planning Guide

Planning hardware for interior glass partition doors

The glass in a partition wall usually gets the design attention; the door hardware usually gets decided last and causes the most rework. Every fitting, hinge cut-out and lock mortise on a tempered-glass door has to be fabricated into the glass before it is heat-treated, which means the hardware decision has to happen early, not once the opening is framed. This guide walks through the main choices and the sequencing that keeps them from becoming a problem.

Written by the Gloria Glass installation team

Patch fittings vs a framed door

A patch-fitted door uses metal fittings clamped to the corners and edges of a frameless glass panel, with the hardware itself doing the structural work at the pivot points. It gives the cleanest, most minimal look and is the standard choice where an all-glass appearance matters most. A framed door sets the glass into a metal or composite frame, which adds weight and a visible edge but generally seals better, tolerates minor field adjustment more easily, and accepts standard commercial door hardware without custom glass cut-outs. Framed doors are usually the better choice where sealing, acoustic performance or standard hardware compatibility matter more than the fully frameless look.

Floor springs and overhead closers

A frameless patch door usually pivots on a floor spring set into the floor slab, or an overhead patch fitting set into the header, or both. Floor springs need a recess in the finished floor, which has to be coordinated with the floor build-up and finish before the slab or screed is closed — retrofitting one into a completed floor is disruptive. Overhead closers sit above the door and are somewhat easier to adjust or replace later, but they require a header condition capable of taking the fixing loads. The choice between the two, and whether the door needs a closer at all versus a simple pivot, should be settled with the floor and ceiling trades before either is finished.

Sliding tracks and soft-close mechanisms

Sliding doors save the floor area a swing door needs and suit tight circulation or rooms where a swing would conflict with furniture layout. A track-mounted slider needs a clear wall run beside the opening for the door to slide into, or a pocket if it is meant to disappear into the wall — a pocket slider involves the wall construction directly and is far easier to plan before the wall is built than to add afterward. Soft-close mechanisms reduce noise and wear at the end of travel and are worth specifying on any partition door used frequently, since a glass door without soft-close will eventually show it at the track and stop.

Locks and access control

Any lock, latch or reader on a glass door needs a cut-out or mortise in the glass itself, and on tempered glass that cut-out has to be fabricated before tempering — it cannot be drilled or altered afterward without breaking the panel. Where card readers, keypads or electronic strikes are planned, coordinate the exact hardware model and its cut-out dimensions with the glass fabricator before shop drawings are finalized. Standalone locks that mount to a patch fitting rather than into the glass avoid this constraint and are worth asking about if the hardware decision has not been finalized by the time glass needs to be ordered. Egress hardware requirements for a given room and occupancy are set by the applicable code and should be confirmed for the project rather than assumed from a similar past job.

Cut-outs, fabrication timing and why changes get expensive

Tempering is the last step in making the glass strong, and it is also the step that locks in every hole, notch and edge detail. Anything drilled or ground into tempered glass afterward risks shattering the panel outright. That means the hardware specification — model numbers, exact positions, cut-out sizes — has to be final and approved on shop drawings before fabrication starts. A hardware change discovered after glass has been ordered generally means a new panel and a new lead time, not a field fix.

Comparing door types

A sequencing checklist

• Choose the door type — swing, patch, framed, surface slider or pocket — before layout is finalized.
• Confirm floor spring recess or header fixing requirements with the floor and ceiling trades early.
• Select any locks, closers or access-control hardware before shop drawings, not after.
• Coordinate exact hardware models and cut-out dimensions with the glass fabricator.
• Confirm egress and hardware requirements against the applicable code for the room's use.
• Approve shop drawings as the final point for hardware changes before fabrication.
• Sequence wall or pocket construction to match the door type, not the other way around.

Where to go next

For how door choice fits into the wider partition layout, ceiling interfaces and fit-out sequencing, see office glass partition planning, and for partition systems and glazing options, see glass partitions.