A bi-fold turns a glazed wall into an open side of the room for the cooler months. We fabricate AluK profiles to the manufacturer's specification in our Dubai factory and install them ourselves.
Terraces, garden rooms and restaurants
In a villa the system opens the living room or the majlis onto the garden; in a restaurant or café it turns the front into an open terrace in the evenings. Because the stacked panels sit at the side, the full width is free for people and furniture, which a sliding door cannot give.
What its classification says
The AWW classification is 4 / 9A / AE2400 for air, water and wind: air permeability class 4, watertightness class 9A and wind resistance class AE2400. That matters because a bi-fold has more joints than a slider, and each one has to seal when the panels are closed and the air conditioning is on. AluK publishes Uw values of 1.6 and 1.4 W/m²K.
The bottom track is where sand collects. We plan a drained sill, and in exposed gardens a slightly raised one, so the running gear does not work in grit.
Bi-fold or an AluK slider
SC140TT and SC156TT keep the glass in one plane: larger panes, fewer vertical lines, and in the case of SC156TT watertightness E1500 and a published Uw of 0.9 W/m²K with triple glazing. The bi-fold gives some of that up to open the whole width. The choice depends on how often the wall will actually stand open.
Optio BSF70 HI is right where the wall will be opened fully and often; for a wall that mostly stays shut, a sliding system is the calmer option.
