Automatic sliding door at Tania Bulhões' shop in Belo Horizonte

Tania Bulhões, Brazil's leading brand of tableware and fragrances, was created in 1989 in a shop selling household objects and decorative items in Uberaba, in the country's interior. Tania Bulhões, creator of the eponymous brand, discovered her passion for decorative arts and in 1991 opened her shop in São Paulo. Today, 35 years later, the brand has 40 shops with products that combine innovation and elegance with traditional craftsmanship and a strong inspiration for the forms of Brazilian nature, something that is also reflected in its businesses.

The architectural firm MNMA Studio tackled the renovation project of Tania Bulhões’ shop in Belvedere, the most exclusive neighbourhood of Belo Horizonte. Manuminas, a distributor of Manusa in Brasil, managed the project to install the shop's main door in an old two-storey building. To do so, the access to the shop had to reflect the brand's innovative spirit, fit in with an elegant and organic interior design, and respect certain original architectural elements of the building. In particular, the Manusa solution had to coexist with the old wooden front door. Therefore, it had to integrate visually and as well as to improve the functionalities of the original door.

In order to respond to these needs, Manusa installed an automatic sliding door with a central opening and transparent glass. The choice of an automatic door, with a high opening speed and an obstacle detection system to guarantee the safety of pedestrians, facilitates the free movement of people without having to interact manually. At the same time, the fast, automated closing system ensures that the internal climate conditions remain stable.

A bare surface design was chosen, maximising visibility on the other side of the surfaces. From the outside, their simplicity and minimalist design harmonises perfectly with the original wooden door, which remains open during business hours. In contrast to the wood, the transparency of the glass allows natural light to enter and enhances the clean design and neutral tones of the shop at the sunniest hours, while meeting insulation needs. In addition, to make the most of the modest dimensions of the original door threshold, during the opening, the surfaces are hidden inside the front wall, optimising the space for pedestrian passage.

From the inside, the automatic glass door, with its quick and silent opening, gives a feeling of lightness and modernity in keeping with the elegant and minimalist aesthetic designed by MNMA Studio. The transparency of its surfaces, together with its simplicity, manages to balance the combination of right angles with the organic shapes of the shop, without stealing useful space by hiding its surfaces within the façade wall.

In addition, the door underwent a costumisation process with the installation of vinyl in the centre with the Tania Bulhões logo. This detail, in addition to reinforcing the visual identity of the brand, it acts as a subtle indicator of the presence of the glass door, preventing possible collisions by pedestrians and thus ensuring their safety.