Here in Los Angeles the trend towards more dense and smaller residential housing can be seen throughout the city but there is also a trend a foot towards larger door pulls for entry doors and public areas. We suspect that both trends will continue and so are developing a series of grand large scale door pulls.
The designs will need to meet ADA requirements and while this may be a design challenge it is one that appeals to us here at Martin Pierce, where making functional art is our mantra. The key to making a door pull suitable for those with disabilities is to focus on the grip aspect of the design. While there is no formula for achieving this many look to the standards that are called out for grab bars that have a prescribed diameter of between 1 ¼ to 1 ½” or other comparable gripping surface.
Many of the commercial door pull designs focus rigidly on the diameter of the pull which may explain why there is an abundance of plain ladder style door pulls on bank doors, shop doors, restaurant and other commercial doors. The term “ladder pull” describes the profile of the door pull as it is supported typically by 2 mounting posts one at each end of the what is usually a straight tube handle and when viewed from the side looks like a ladder.
While still allowing for an easy to grip surface area we feel there is room for a little artistry in designing ladder pulls. We are still at the concept stage on this new direction but hope to have some new pieces ready by the end of 2017. As with all of our work these too will be available in either stainless steel or bronze and will be cast using the lost wax method.