Occupying over 750 acres of land in the Santa Monica Mountain foothills, the Getty Museum is home to some of the most rare and valuable pieces of art in the world. Originally started from J. Paul Getty’s private art collection, the museum now holds a compilation so large it takes four exhibit pavilions and nine buildings just to show a portion of it.

Designed by Richard Meier, the Getty Museum opened its doors to a very eager public in 1997. This year, in preparation for its tenth anniversary in 2007, the Getty has undergone several small changes to improve the visitor experience.

Among some of the revisions was the replacement of temporary exhibition closure panels with stationary sliding panels in the West Pavilion. Exhibition closure panels are typically used to close off sections of galleries from the public while installations of new exhibits take place. But because they are time consuming to set up, stationary sliding panels are preferred in museums like the Getty, where exhibitions are changed frequently.

To design and manufacture the customized panels for the galleries, Doortek Systems, Inc. brought in Krieger Specialty Products for their valued expertise. The design challenge was to offer two customized sliding doors each consisting of an aesthetic feature unusual to a commercial setting—a wicket Door— a small door forming part of a larger door or gate which is used to close such entrance or aperture.

To conceal and diminish the silhouette of the wicket door, the frame and hardware were engineered to blend seamlessly into the sliding panel along with a flush vision light built into the wicket door. The sliders were then cladded with a quarter inch sliced maple. And additional special attention was needed to ensure the installation of these sliders would allow them to function properly in a very tight space.

Because Krieger has tackled many unique projects and situations in their 80+ years of custom door and window manufacturing, this unique project was a welcomed opportunity. “Not every door manufacturer can pull off something like this,” states Bob McCluney, president of Krieger. “Being able to accommodate these types of requests requires engineering talent, creativity and a lot of past experience.” Something the Krieger team proudly offers to any architect and contractor requiring a unique solution to an everyday need.