Modernfold manufactures operable partitions, glass wall systems and accordion doors, specified and installed through licensed local distributors. For a project at the wealth management firm Kovitz, Box Studios worked with Modernfold Chicago on a movable wall between the employee café and an adjoining multipurpose training room.
The project
The requirement was a flexible transition between two rooms with clearly different functions — a café and a training space — that share a wall. Three conditions were set from the start: a paired panel glass configuration, acoustic separation sufficient for the two functions to operate simultaneously, and black metal finishes. The complicating factor was dimension. The opening measures 7 feet 8 inches wide, small enough that a poorly chosen system would consume the available wall in stacked panels when open.
The product in use
Two systems were evaluated. PureView® offers mid-range acoustic performance in a slimmer, single-glazed panel; Acousti-Clear® is built for maximum sound control in a double-glazed panel. Acousti-Clear® was selected at a 45 STC rating, with automatic bottom seals and a pivot panel closure. This is the trade-off worth understanding when specifying between the two families: where the divided rooms will be in genuine simultaneous use — a training session running while the café is occupied — the acoustic ceiling matters more than the panel profile.
Privacy was resolved after installation rather than through the glass specification. A film was applied to the glazing, screening the multipurpose room while allowing daylight to continue passing through into the café — an approach that keeps the borrowed light the glass wall was chosen for.
Working within the dimension
The result is efficient in plan. When the two panels are retracted, they require a stack depth of 1 foot 9 inches, so the open condition returns nearly the full width of the opening to circulation between the two rooms. For architects working with small openings, this figure is the one to test early: stack depth, more than panel count or acoustic rating, determines whether an operable wall is viable in a compact plan.
The result
The project demonstrates that the reasoning behind an operable wall does not change with the size of the opening — the same questions of acoustic performance, finish and storage apply to a two-panel run as to a ballroom division.
| Location | Chicago, Illinois, United States |
| Year | 2026 |
| Type of Building | Office |
| Architect | Box Studios |
| Design Team | Modernfold Chicago (Modernfold distributor) |
| Product Used | Acousti-Clear® Paired Panel Glass Wall |
Technical documentation and brochures for the Acousti-Clear® glass wall family are available from the manufacturer. Click here to download.
