Dhahran, Saudi Arabia – With over one million visitors annually, the King Abdulaziz Center for World Culture in Saudi Arabia is a cultural hub that TIME magazine listed as one of the world’s greatest places to visit.
The award-winning space, designed by Snohetta, functions as multiple museums, a 900-seat theater, movie theater, as well as a children’s zone, exhibition hall and library.
To maintain the awe-inspiring beauty and effortless pedestrian movement of the open plan design while providing the necessary protection against fire emergencies, the architects at Snohetta selected the Won-Door FireGuard™ horizontal accordion-style sliding door system.
As a result, the museum’s massive archive is protected by one of the world’s largest circular fire doors. The continuous custom curved ellipse of the FireGuard door spans over 200 feet and accounts for almost 3,000 square feet in surface area. Although it is such a large door, it is designed to recede into a hidden pocket to completely disappear from site when in the open position.
With widths as long as a football field and heights 5 times those of a standard swing door, it’s little wonder that Won-Door has become the fire door of choice for some of the world’s most outstanding architectural achievements.
