A lightbulb moment

RegaLead’s joint managing director Guy Hubble tells Glass Times why the company’s new Urban aluminum door panel system addresses a definite gap in the market

When it comes to entrance doors, our sector has innovated and invested to offer a myriad of choices. The industry now has access to the often maligned, but still essential, mainstay PVC panel door. We can add value with secure, thermally efficient, colourful timber-like composites, and in recent years, have been able to supply into the premium sector, thanks to increasing numbers of high-end aluminium door-sets.

From contemporary to traditional, top price tag to bargain basement, we appear to have it all. But do we? What about the substantial number of UK homeowners who want a quality aluminium door but at a reasonable price?

Urban from RegaLead was originally devised as a contemporary glazing solution for composite doors, but during a visit to Fensterbau last year, we had a lightbulb moment. We realised that what’s required to meet demand for the growth in contemporary doors is more than just a glazing solution – it’s a brand-new approach to how we manufacture aluminium doors in the UK.

The main problem currently is that anyone wanting to take advantage of the aluminium front door market has two options, neither of which are ideal. The first is to buy in infill panels from Europe with the associated European styling, long lead times and cost. The second is exchange significant amounts of money for really top end full aluminium door sets. Neither of these options is conducive to a mass retail market approach.

If you want to fabricate your own aluminium doors in-house, and wave goodbye to long lead times on European infill panels or expensive top end full aluminium door sets, then Urban is the solution for you. It ticks all the boxes when it comes to the size, design choice and flexibility associated with full aluminium door sets, but at a fraction of the cost.

The blank Urban panels are cut to size for the fabricator and delivered with prepped apertures featuring the Urban aluminium glazing cassettes. Although supplied unglazed, customers can order contemporary glass units from Decorative Door Products at point of panel order. We want to offer choice without competing with our customers and delivering an ‘entire’ aluminium infill panel. We want to allow our customers to add the value and benefit from the increased margins they’ve added.

The Urban solution has been designed to colour match the current standard colour offerings from aluminium system companies and we hold white and anthracite grey in stock, already power coated. We’ve worked hard to find a powder coated finish that’s designed to be overpainted and, as a result, customers now have access to a panel that’s easily available in any colour they wish.

As you’d expect from a quality door, customers will be able to promote thermal efficiency with a U-value of 0.9W/m²K and a robust core and panel construction thanks to structural 2mm marine grade ply reinforcement. Urban is available in five different blank panel designs which, together with the Urban glazing cassette, can be developed into a multitude of glazing configurations.

Just as our markets have evolved, the RegaLead brand of 25 years ago is a totally different animal with a host of new products and services to create and satisfy emerging home improvement trends. One thing that hasn’t changed is our philosophy of innovation and introducing products to create new markets and opportunities that help our customers make money. We believe Urban is the perfect example of just this.

RegaLead is currently looking for a limited number of Urban launch partners. 0161 946 1164, www.regalead.co.uk