In today’s buildings, safety is no longer a single‑purpose requirement. Architects, owners, and facility managers need solutions that protect life, secure property, and preserve the open, flexible spaces modern users expect. Won‑Door FireGuard™ and Won‑Door SteelGuard™ doors exemplify this evolution, delivering advanced protection while remaining virtually invisible until needed. Though they share a common DNA, each system is purpose‑built for distinct priorities, making them powerful tools when specified correctly.
Won-Door FireGuard™: Fire and Life Safety Without Design Limits
Won‑Door FireGuard™ is the original horizontal‑sliding, accordion‑folding fire door that redefined how buildings handle fire separation. Instead of interrupting layouts with banks of swing doors or bulky rolling steel, Won-Door FireGuard™ disappears neatly into a pocket, leaving the opening fully clear during normal use. When connected to a fire alarm or smoke detection system, it deploys automatically to form a code‑compliant fire and smoke barrier, helping compartmentalize a building and protect paths of egress.
Won-Door FireGuard’s™ greatest virtue is design freedom. It accommodates openings that can span over one hundred feet in width, with heights exceeding 30 feet, and even curved or corner configurations—capabilities traditional fire doors simply cannot match. With fire ratings available up to 180 minutes and proven acceptance for use in means of egress, Won-Door FireGuard™ is trusted in schools, healthcare facilities, airports, and civic buildings where life safety and architectural openness must coexist. By staying hidden when not in use, it preserves daylight, sightlines, and traffic flow—making safety feel seamless rather than restrictive. Illustrating Won-Door’s mantra of “It’s not what you see … it’s what you don’t see.”
Won-Door SteelGuard™: Rapid, Robust Security with Fire Capability
Where Won-Door FireGuard™ focuses on life safety first, Won-Door SteelGuard™ is engineered for security and access control—without sacrificing code compliance. Built on the same proven technology, Won-Door SteelGuard™ creates a formidable physical and visual barrier that can lock down a space in as little as seven seconds, restricting access and line of sight during security events. It integrates directly with building management and security systems, receiving signals to open, close, lock, unlock, or panic lock as conditions demand.
Won-Door SteelGuard’s™ construction delivers exceptional strength, including anti‑sway features and resistance to forced entry, making it ideal for healthcare, education, government, and corporate environments. Importantly, Won-Door SteelGuard™ can also be specified with a UL fire rating up to 180 minutes, allowing a single opening to serve both security and fire‑protection roles. During a fire alarm event, security functions are overridden to ensure free, code‑compliant egress—proving that protection and life safety can work in harmony.
Won-Door FireGuard™ vs. SteelGuard™ at a Glance
While both systems share a common heritage, their differences become clear when viewed side by side:
Feature / Capability | Won‑Door FireGuard™ | Won‑Door SteelGuard™ |
Primary Purpose | Fire and smoke protection with maximum architectural openness | Rapid security, lockdown, and access control with optional fire protection |
Fire Rating | UL‑listed up to 180 minutes | Optional UL ratings: 20, 60, 90, or 180 minutes |
Deployment Speed | Automatic closing upon fire alarm | High‑speed operation; lockdown in ~7 seconds |
Opening Size Capability | Virtually unlimited widths; heights exceeding 30 ft | Typically, up to 40 ft wide × 15 ft high |
System Integration | Fire alarm systems with optional access control | Deep integration with security and building management systems |
Key Advantage | Preserves open design while delivering high‑level life safety | Combines rapid security response with code‑compliant egress |
Choosing the Right Solution—or Both
The key difference between Won-Door FireGuard™ and Won-Door SteelGuard™ lies in primary intent. Won-Door FireGuard™ is optimized for fire and smoke protection with maximum architectural flexibility, while Won-Door SteelGuard™ is optimized for rapid security, lockdown, and access control, with optional fire ratings layered in. In many facilities, the two are complementary—Won-Door FireGuard™ maintaining open, day‑to‑day circulation and life safety, and Won-Door SteelGuard™ securing sensitive zones when threats arise.
Together, Won-Door FireGuard® and SteelGuard® represent a smarter approach to building protection: solutions that adapt to risk, respect design, and perform exactly when they’re needed most … all from the same opening protective.
Learn more about Won-Door FireGuard™ for your next project
Learn more about Won-Door SteelGuard™ for your next project
