Special Projects Studio

We Solve Problems

At Harvard's Science and Engineering Complex, a unique room layout required doors to stop at 90 degrees with three feet of open space to the nearest wall. A conventional floor stop would create a trip hazard and violate the building code. A wall stop was impossible — the wall was too far away.

We found the solution in Switzerland.

The fix fax is a concealed mechanism that stops and holds the door without any visible hardware on floor or wall. We deployed it in over 200 rooms at Harvard, including exit door applications. It solves problems architects assumed they'd have to design around.

The problem:
At Harvard’s Science and Engineering Complex, faculty office design allows three feet of storage space from the office front door to the demising partition, eliminating the option for a wall stop.  A conventional floor stop would create a trip hazard when the door was closed and violate building safety codes.  The project team asked us to provide a solution.

The solution:
We found a Swiss company specializing in the design, development, and manufacture of high-quality architectural hardware and door fittings with a strong emphasis on Swiss craftsmanship, precision engineering, and elegant design.

Our solution is a flush-mount, retractable floor door stopper designed to provide a discreet, elegant, and highly functional solution for interior doors.  The unit stays completely flush with the finished floor until it is needed.  When a door approaches, the stopper automatically rises from its baseplate to catch the door; when the door moves away, it drops back down flush again.  This makes it a visually minimal, unobtrusive architectural hardware element that disappears when not in use.

This solution was applied in over 200 Faculty Offices and 25 corridor door applications.

Facing a detail that seems unsolvable?  Let’s talk.