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Operable Walls

An operable wall, also sold as a movable partition wall or a moveable wall system, is the heavy end of the folding family. Wide panels hang from a structural track and are walked across the opening by hand, then stacked into a pocket or against a return. It is what a hall, a function room or a training floor uses when the room has to be two rooms on Tuesday and one again on Wednesday.

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An operable wall part way across a room, panels angled open and one being walked across by hand

Where these go

  • Function rooms and reception venues
  • School halls and multi-purpose rooms
  • Training floors and conference suites
  • Community halls and places of worship
  • Office partition walls and meeting suites
  • Showrooms and open-plan offices
  • Hotel ballrooms and banquet spaces
  • Sports halls and recreation centres
  • Libraries and university teaching spaces

What you get

How our operable walls are put together

The track carries everything

Panels are top-hung, so the load goes into the head rather than the floor. That is why the head condition, and whether it needs a beam, decides more about the job than the panels do.

Stacking is a design decision

Panels can stack to one end, split to both, or disappear into a pocket built into the joinery. Where they go when the room is open is worth settling before the opening is framed.

Finished to read as a wall

Vinyl or fabric across the run, in a specified colour where the room needs a match. A function room usually wants a face that reads as a wall rather than a partition, and a school hall wants one that wipes clean.

One person should be able to move it

A wall that takes two people to reset is a wall that stops being reset. Panel width and hardware are chosen so a single staff member can run it.

The seals are the acoustic rating

On a rated wall the panels do part of the work and the seals do the rest. Retractable seals drop from the top and bottom of each panel when it is set, pressing against the head and the floor to close the gap the panel cannot. A wall run with the seals left up is not a rated wall, which is why the operating instructions matter as much as the specification.

A pass door saves the whole wall being moved

On a long run, one person needing to cross between the two halves otherwise means unlatching and walking panels. A pass door built into a panel lets them through without breaking the seal line, and it is far easier to include at design stage than to retrofit.

It needs servicing, and that is not a fault

Operable walls are the heaviest moving thing in most buildings that have one. Carriers, seals and latches go out of adjustment with use, and a wall that has drifted stops sealing before it stops closing, so the acoustic performance goes quietly first. Regular adjustment is ordinary maintenance rather than a sign something was wrong.

Specification

The numbers, as ranges

These are the ranges the product family covers. We confirm the figures for your job at measure. Better a range now than a number we have to walk back later.

Configuration
Top-hung, manually operated, stacking to one or both ends
Typical panel width
900 mm to 1200 mm
Opening width
Commonly specified from 3 m to 20 m
Opening height
Up to about 6 m, subject to the head condition
Panel faces
Vinyl or fabric
Floor track
None. The run is carried by the overhead track
Acoustic rating
Specified between Rw 35 and Rw 55 where a soundproof partition is required
Seals
Retractable top and bottom seals on rated systems

Budget

Roughly what it costs, and roughly what it needs

Enough to sanity-check a budget or a drawing before anyone picks up the phone. Both are indicative. The quote is the number that counts.

Indicative pricing

Priced per job. Call us for a price.

Openings vary enough in size, finish, rating and access that a published range would mislead more than it helps. Tell us the opening and you get a real number, not a band.

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What moves the number

  • Panel finish, and whether a specified colour match is needed
  • How the panels are stored, and whether a stacking pocket has to be built
  • Span, which decides the track section and the head support required
  • Whether the head can carry the load, or needs a structural beam first
Get a firm quote

Indicative only, and not an offer or a quote. Prices exclude GST, exclude any builder's work, and are confirmed in writing after a site measure.

Before you specify

Work out the rating you actually need

Over-specifying costs money you did not have to spend. Under-specifying costs the room. Three questions gets you to the right band.

Questions

What people ask before they order

Not covered here? The opening usually decides the answer, so it is quicker to describe yours than to read every case.

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Panel width and mass. An accordion door runs many narrow panels that concertina into a tight stack and suits openings up to a few metres. An operable wall runs fewer, much wider panels on a heavier track, which is what lets it span a hall. The stack is deeper as a result.

Only if both halves of the room will be in use at once. If the wall is closed for privacy rather than for sound, an unrated system costs less and does the job. The selector further down this page asks three questions and gives you the band to write into a spec, including when the answer is that no rating is warranted.

Rw is a single number summarising how much sound a system stops in a laboratory. Your room will not match it. The ceiling void above the wall, the floor under it and the junctions at each jamb all leak, and a wall rated Rw 50 installed over an unsealed ceiling void can behave like Rw 35. Specify the wall against the building, not against the panel datasheet.

Because sound goes over the top. If the ceiling is a suspended grid with a continuous void above it, that void is an open path between the two halves of the room no matter what the wall does. Sealing it is usually a builder item rather than ours, and it is the single most common reason a rated wall underperforms.

Into a stack. That stack sits against a return wall, splits to both ends, or hides in a pocket built into the joinery. A pocket is the tidiest and the most expensive, and it has to be planned before the opening is framed.

That is the first thing we check. Operable panels are heavy and the whole run hangs from the head, so an existing ceiling grid often will not do it without a beam. We tell you at quote stage rather than on install day.

That is how they are specified. Panel width and hardware are picked so a single staff member can walk the run across and latch it. If a wall needs two people every time, it stops getting used.

It depends entirely on how often it is moved. A wall run several times a week in a function centre is a different maintenance case from one closed twice a term in a school hall. The failure to watch for is gradual: seals and carriers drift out of adjustment, and the wall keeps closing long after it has stopped sealing properly, so nobody notices until a booking goes badly.

Yes. We repair and service operable walls and accordion doors whoever supplied them, including systems from manufacturers no longer trading. You do not need to have bought the wall from us.

Sometimes, and it is much cheaper at design stage. A pass door is built into a panel rather than cut into one, so retrofitting usually means replacing that panel and can affect the seal line on a rated wall. If there is any chance you will want one, say so before the panels are made.

Also in the range

Accordion & Folding Doors

Top-hung folding doors that divide a room in seconds and stack back against the jamb when you want the space open again.

View product

Outdoor Blinds

Clear folding outdoor blinds that close a verandah, alfresco or balcony off from rain and wind, and fold back against the post on a fine day.

View product

Pricing operable walls?

Send the width, the height and what the room has to do. You get a written quote with panels, track, hardware and installation priced separately.

Get a quote03 9331 7376