ESSENTIAL TIMBER | Sliding doors in an exposed concrete home
Some projects convey something from the very first image. Not because of any single detail, but because of the sense that everything fits together. House AJ, a modern concrete house in Osona (Barcelona), is one of them — and its interior sliding doors are clear proof of how an apparently technical element can be fully integrated into the language of a project.
The exposed concrete finish on the ceilings and columns sets the tone from the outset. It is a material that allows no half measures: it has presence, texture, a character of its own. Against it, the project responds with wood flooring, oak furniture and large white planes. The tension between the bold and the warm is precisely what defines the space.
Choosing the sliding doors is a design decision too
In a project with such a defined identity, every decision counts. The flooring, the light, the furniture — everything has to answer to the same logic. So do the sliding door systems.
At House AJ, dividing the spaces is essential: kitchen and dining area, common areas, bedrooms. These are functional needs that in any other project could be resolved in a standard way. Not here. A generic solution would have broken the coherence of the whole.
The answer was to specify them with the same criteria used to choose the concrete or the wood: as part of the language of the project, not as a technical element set apart from it.
The result: sliding solutions that become part of the space
The wooden sliding doors at House AJ do not compete with the space. They compose it. The large white leaves become continuous planes that engage with the boldness of the concrete from a completely different register. The matte black handles are the only visible nod to the system — the same contrast that runs through the entire project.
When open, they create a sequence of planes that deepens the perspective and articulates the floor plan. When closed, they become part of the wall. In both cases, they fit.
The sliding-door hardware system: Essential Timber by Saheco
What makes that result possible is Essential Timber, the hardware system for wooden interior sliding doors of up to 90 kg per leaf.
At House AJ, two installation solutions were used depending on the conditions of each space. In the areas with an exposed concrete ceiling, the STAR Track was used: a single, smooth and elegant profile installed directly onto the ceiling, which keeps the visual cleanliness without adding superfluous elements. In the spaces with a false ceiling, the STAR FT Profile was chosen; it remains completely concealed, leaving only the finishing flanges visible — the result is an installation where the track, quite simply, disappears.
In both cases the RA installation option was used, which minimises the distance between the leaf and the upper profile, adjusting the solution as closely as possible to the geometry of the space.
The profiles and accessories in matte silver anodised aluminium accompany the tone of the project without imposing themselves. The system features quiet, minimal-effort rolling — friction or ball bearings depending on the application — and the SofTop damping brake for a soft, impact-free close.
Technically resolved. Visually integrated. Functionally flawless.
Suspended sliding system: a design decision, not a catalogue choice
House AJ proves that specifying a sliding door well is no minor detail. In a project where every element speaks the same language, the sliding doors had to do the same — and they do.
Essential Timber is the system that makes it possible: versatile in installation, rigorous in finish, coherent with any architectural language that demands precision.
Project | House AJ
Interior design | Sandra Soler Studio
Interior designer | Sandra Soler
System | Essential Timber
