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East 71st Street, Upper East Side — SIMPAS Oversized In-Swing Doors and Window Walls with a Divided-Lite Grid

Upper East Side, Manhattan · Townhouse rebuild · Supply and installation

LocationEast 71st Street, Upper East Side, Manhattan

BuildingTownhouse, full rebuild

ScopeTerrace glazing on several floors: supply & install

SystemSIMPAS aluminum, black, divided lites

UnitsOversized-height in-swing doors, fixed window walls, casement vents

StatusInstalled 2026, house being finished

Scope of Work

A townhouse on East 71st Street on the Upper East Side, rebuilt from the inside out, with the rear of the house opened up to terraces on several floors. Alex GC supplied and installed the terrace glazing on SIMPAS aluminum: oversized-height in-swing doors and fixed window walls in a black finish, with a divided-lite grid across every unit so the new glass reads like the steel windows of an older building rather than a blank sheet.

The Grid

The owner wanted the look of traditional steel-framed glazing — narrow black bars, small panes — with the thermal performance and the size of openings that only a modern aluminum system gives. SIMPAS builds that: a slim thermally broken profile with applied divided lites, so a door leaf taller than any stock unit still has the rhythm of a factory window. The grid lines up across the swing doors and the fixed units on the same floor, and from floor to floor, which is a shop-drawing exercise before it is an installation one.

Oversized In-Swing Doors

The doors are the biggest units on the job: in-swing leaves well above standard door height, paired with fixed lites to fill each terrace opening. There are no sliders on this house — the owner wanted doors that swing, in the manner of the original French doors on houses of this type. A leaf that tall wants proper hardware: the photographs show the lever handle and cylinder on the swing leaf and the stainless keeper let into the frame, where the multi-point lock engages when the door is closed, and the hinges are sized for the weight of an oversized divided-lite leaf. On the upper floors the window walls carry a casement leaf for ventilation.

Sequence

The units went in with the interior still at drywall stage and the floors partly laid, which is the right moment on a rebuild like this: the openings are finished to size, the waterproofing can be tied into the terrace membrane, and the trim carpentry comes after. Manufacturer’s labels are still on the glass in the photographs. The same house also received Marvin Ultimate wood double-hung windows on the street facade, covered on its own page.

Photographs

Photographed in September 2026 during construction.

Tall black SIMPAS aluminum in-swing door with divided lites opening onto a terrace, seen from inside on East 71st Street — A tall in-swing door and fixed lites onto the terrace, seen from inside during construction

Exterior view from the terrace of a black divided-lite SIMPAS in-swing door set in brick on East 71st Street — The same opening from the terrace: slim black frames in the brick

Black SIMPAS divided-lite in-swing door in a room with the oak floor laid, East 71st Street Manhattan — A lower floor with the oak floor down — the grid pattern reads against the light

Close view of the black lever handle and lock on a SIMPAS in-swing door — The lever handle and cylinder on the swing leaf

Stainless lock keeper set into the black frame of a SIMPAS in-swing door — The keeper in the frame — the stainless plate the multi-point lock engages

Black SIMPAS window wall with one casement open, East 71st Street Manhattan — A window wall on an upper floor with a casement leaf open for ventilation

SIMPAS Live Better label on the glass of a newly installed unit — The manufacturer’s label

Black divided-lite SIMPAS in-swing door on the top floor opening onto a terrace, East 71st Street — The top-floor in-swing door onto the terrace

Project Video

Inside the rebuilt townhouse while the interior was still in progress: the black SIMPAS oversized in-swing doors and fixed window wall with their divided-lite grid, opening the rear rooms to the garden.

More project videos on our YouTube channel.

Similar Work and Related Specifications

Curtain wall systems · Divided lites · Balcony and terrace doors · Marvin Ultimate windows, same house · 165 East 64th Street townhouse

Planning Something Similar?

Rebuilding a townhouse and opening the back to terraces? Send us the drawings. We will size the doors, set the grid so it lines up across the facade, and detail the sill into the terrace waterproofing.

Request a Quote or call 929-235-1233