Two size leaves doors

[VAC]

This is not a 'code' question, but I'm curious because it's something I don't see often.
A double door where one leaf is 36 and the other 30. These were egress doors and had panic hardware, although they were not in a space/building classified as assembly.
I didn't take a picture, but hopefully that makes sense.

Here is the question. Why is that done? I Googled this out of curiosity and apparently, it is more common than I thought.
Why not do two 33" or 36". I am working on a different part of the building, and this does not affect or change anything I'm doing. I'm genuinely curious.

First I thought it would be because of clearances around the door, but there was enough space to make the opening wider.

Has anyone seen/done this and why?
Any thoughts?
~TIA

 

[Yankee Chronicler]

Where this is usually seen is when one leaf needs to be oversized, such as a pair of doors into an automobile dealership. To drive (or push) cars in and out, the overall doorway needs to be about eight feet wide, but 4-foot leaves are awkward for normal pedestrian traffic.

I've never seen a 36" and a 30" in the same opening.

 

[VAC]

Where this is usually seen is when one leaf needs to be oversized, such as a pair of doors into an automobile dealership. To drive (or push) cars in and out, the overall doorway needs to be about eight feet wide, but 4-foot leaves are awkward for normal pedestrian traffic.

I've never seen a 36" and a 30" in the same opening.

Ahh, yes! that makes sense. I guess the close sizes threw me off. I'm thinking they just didn't want to order 33" doors and went with more common sizes? Or a 48" and a 18" would have looked even more weird.
Of course, that's a perfect application. This was just an office building ~but who knows what it was before or what happened along the way
Either way, thank you for answering.

 

[Yikes]

Yes we do this all the time.
Example: doors at area separation walls at apartment building corridor that is 66" wide, where one area has an occupant load less than 50. A single 36" door will work, as direction of travel is not critical to door swing(1010.1.2.1).
However the 36" opening is not aesthetically pleasing, and we want to make it as wide as possible, like this:

• 4" jamb
• 36" leaf, with magnetic hold-open. This leaf provides all the minimum required exit width (32") for both directions
• 22" leaf, with magnetic hold-open. This leaf is for aesthetics only. It also provides the 18" strike side clearance for the exit door.
• 4" jamb

Total width of door + jamb assembly = 66"
Total width of door frame only = 58"

From IBC 1010.1.1, at least one leaf needs to provide 32" clear (which we do with the 36" door):

 

[Paul Sweet]

I've often seen this in accessibility renovations where a pair of 32" doors are replaced with a 36" & 28" doors so they don't have to tear out the frame and walls. A lot of pre-ADA buildings had 6 ft. corridors with a pair of 32" doors.

 

[VAC]

Yes we do this all the time.
Example: doors at area separation walls at apartment building corridor that is 66" wide, where one area has an occupant load less than 50. A single 36" door will work, as direction of travel is not critical to door swing(1010.1.2.1).
However the 36" opening is not aesthetically pleasing, and we want to make it as wide as possible, like this:

• 4" jamb
• 36" leaf, with magnetic hold-open. This leaf provides all the minimum required exit width (32") for both directions
• 22" leaf, with magnetic hold-open. This leaf is for aesthetics only. It also provides the 18" strike side clearance for the exit door.
• 4" jamb

Total width of door + jamb assembly = 66"
Total width of door frame only = 58"

From IBC 1010.1.1, at least one leaf needs to provide 32" clear (which we do with the 36" door):
View attachment 12778

Yes! this makes sense. I see the possibilities here.

 

[VAC]

I've often seen this in accessibility renovations where a pair of 32" doors are replaced with a 36" & 28" doors so they don't have to tear out the frame and walls. A lot of pre-ADA buildings had 6 ft. corridors with a pair of 32" doors.

 

[VAC]

Ooh I wonder if this was the case here... maybe I measured wrong or maybe the opening was just a tad wider.
Thanks!

 

[e hilton]

I did that once, a doorway into a computer room. We were a little space restricted, so i installed a 5 ft door frame with a 36” and a 24” door. The 36 was the active leaf for normal use, if they needed more room to move equipment they unlatched the 24 and had a very wide opening.

 

[VAC]

I did that once, a doorway into a computer room. We were a little space restricted, so i installed a 5 ft door frame with a 36” and a 24” door. The 36 was the active leaf for normal use, if they needed more room to move equipment they unlatched the 24 and had a very wide opening.

 

[VAC]

Perfect application.... all these years and I never gave this a second thought! Thank you for sharing!