Steel Windows Improve Home Depot's Manhattan Store Entrance

Optimum Windows of Ellenville, NY supplied the custom public entranceway and other windows for the new Home Depot Manhattan flagship store at 32 West 23rd Street. The two-story tall glass atrium vestibule and other window openings along the building’s front and rear used Optimum Elegance Series C55 steel windows and French doors and Series HR4500 steel fixed windows. Christy’s Glass and Architectural Metals of Jamaica Hills, NY, the fenestration contractor for the project, installed the windows and entranceway.


The new entranceway was custom designed to provide modern functionality while blending with the vintage building’s grand arched entrance. The large expanses of tempered glass used in the Optimum doors and windows let in copious amounts of sunlight and entice the public to come in and shop. Pressed for time to meet the store’s aggressive opening scheduled last fall, Optimum’s superior production process rapidly and successfully geared up to meet the challenge.


“I’m proud that Optimum products were selected to literally greet the public at Home Depot’s premier Manhattan location,” said C.J. Perez, Vice President of Sales and Marketing for Optimum Windows. “Like others, Home Depot recognizes the beauty, strength, design and quality of Optimum’s special metal and fire-rated windows and doors.”


The Optimum Elegance Series C55 is an 18-gauge steel cold rolled formed swing door and window system with a 2-¼ ” frame depth, which was fitted during installation with 1” insulated tempered glass. This Optimum product is noted for its flush-faced design, elegant style and clean, uniform lines. The Elegance Series C55 door system is not only attractive but also strong and durable. The doors feature mitered, corner keyed reinforced welded frame and sash joinery. The Elegance Series C55 family of fenestration products is fabricated in accordance with the specifications of the Steel Windows Institute (SWI) and has achieved ANSI/AAMA 101-93 ratings of HC-40. The Home Depot entrance doors each feature 3 heavy-duty European paddle hinges.


Optimum’s fabrication of the doors included project specific alterations in order to accommodate the special lock and handle hardware specified by Home Depot. The doors and windows were custom finished with a white color powder coat of paint to match the ornate white façade of the building.


The fixed windows used on the Home Depot project were Optimum’s Series HR4500 hot rolled steel windows. Hot rolled steel windows use solid steel sections and have renewed architectural interest due to their landmark quality, strength and narrow sight lines. These 1-½ ” frame depth windows use mitered, flash-welded frame and sash construction. This series is fabricated in accordance with the specifications of the Steel Window Institute (SWI) and has achieved ANSI/AAMA 101-93 ratings of HC-40. Like the Elegance Series C55, these windows accept 1” insulated glass units. These intrinsically tough windows, featuring uniform sight lines, were finished with a custom green/black powder coat paint to match the building’s rear façade.