Doors That Keep on Teaching
An installation at a North Carolina school gets a second life, continuing to serve students more than a decade later.
In 2011, when ActivWall was first founded, our very first Folding Door units were designed for and installed in a North Carolina Montessori middle school. This project marked the beginning of our journey as a company, and it has been rewarding to see how these doors have served students and teachers for more than a decade.
Schools are a naturally demanding environment for any product. Doors are opened and closed countless times each day, students use them as backdrops for projects and play, and they endure years of daily activity. Over time, our original units experienced the expected wear and tear from such heavy use.
More than ten years later, our team had the privilege of returning to the same Montessori school to refurbish and update these doors for the next generation of students. It was a full-circle moment that highlights both the durability of ActivWall products and our ongoing commitment to customer care.
The original project consisted of six folding door units, each built with sturdy hard maple wood and designed with seven panels of partially frosted glass. The frosted sections served a dual purpose. Not only did they provide privacy between classrooms, but they also doubled as dry-erase boards, giving teachers and students additional writing surfaces for notes and activities.
For the refurbishing process, our team carefully removed each unit and transported it back to our headquarters in Martinsville, Virginia. There, our skilled craftsmen sanded and refinished the wooden frames to restore their original beauty, thoroughly cleaned the glass panels, and replaced all motion hardware to align with ActivWall’s latest innovations. Duke Ferrell, ActivWall’s President and Co-Founder, shared, “This process has given these original ActivWall units a new lease on life.”
Once reinstalled, the refreshed doors were ready to continue their important role in the school. Each set separates two middle school classrooms, offering flexibility for teachers and students. The units are set up in a 6L-1R configuration, allowing the end panel to serve as a swing door for moving between the two spaces. When the six left panels are folded open, they create a larger shared space for group activities and collaboration. When fully closed, the door provides a quieter, more focused environment for individual lessons, all while still serving as noise-reducing partitions and functional dry-erase boards.
At ActivWall, we design our products to last, and this project is a powerful example of that promise. Our products are backed by a 10-year residential warranty and a two-year commercial warranty. But even after the warranty period ends, our commitment to customers does not. We proudly provide exceptional service, maintenance, and upgrades so that every ActivWall system, no matter how old, can continue to perform beautifully for years to come.
This Montessori school project was where our story began, and seeing those original doors refreshed for today’s students reminds us of why we do what we do: creating adaptable, durable, and innovative solutions that stand the test of time.
From schools and offices to restaurants and event spaces, ActivWall products are built to adapt and endure. Contact us today to explore custom solutions for your space.
See the Refurbished Folding Door in Action
Acknowledgments
Story by ActivWall. Photos and video by Jennifer Doss, Duke Ferrell, and Josh Salmons.
