Doors that enhance the home

Not only does your front door welcome visitors to your door step, it frames your entire house and complements the style and colours of your home, as well as your surrounding neighbourhood. Richard Gambling, managing director of GRM Windows, gives as insight into the evolving trends in the doors industry.

Today, there is a great array of interior styles to choose from, and there is no wonder that homeowners are obsessed with what is through the keyhole. Within this world of design possibility there are certain factors that consumers don’t seem to want to compromise on: style, performance and functionality reign supreme in both conservation, renovation and new installation properties.

For years the traditional white PVCU doors – glazed with glass or with infill panels – were perceived as the market leader due to their affordability and practicality. However, there has been a shift towards composite doors; the combination of their traditional features, good looks, low maintenance, thermal efficiency and strong security delivers exactly what the market is looking for today.

The front door is also where homeowners feel they have the freedom to go wilder with colour. While the shades of grey and black seem to still dominate the market, we are seeing more bold statements made with front door colours that consumers wouldn’t usually select for windows say, or even their internal walls. The colour of the front door is now seen as a statement that opens up the style gates into one’s home.

GRM is constantly looking ahead at possibilities and innovating products that are in line with changing customers’ needs. Our vast portfolio of products has now grown to include aspirational, statement doors that are not simply an add-on to homes. In recent years, we have been involved in opening up the market to multi-fold doors, lift and slide doors and the more popular traditional sliding patio doors.

GRM has been a Rehau authorised partner since its inception in 2009, and we are currently the only fabricator in the UK to make Rehau’s Agila Passivhaus doors.

Based on the Rehau Geneo window and door system, the doors are created in partnership with panel suppliers Rodenburg, and can be customised with GRP overlay skins in a range of colours and finishes. This product has been designed with thermal efficiency in mind, to the Passivhaus standard, obtaining the highest thermal performance possible.

Its glazing options range from a modern sandblasted look through to the more traditional look of ‘leaded’ and coloured glass effect.

The door can also incorporate a host of additional features including quadruple glazing, state-of-the-art locking systems, LED lights in the door glass, and mirrors on the interior side. A special feature includes its ability to incorporate a hidden camera, which allows homeowners to see who is at the door via a viewing panel mounted on the interior, instead of using a traditional eye viewer.

We have supplied the contemporary Passivhaus doors to several projects over the last few months including Shropshire Houses in Much Wenlock and houses on the Allotment Road in Hampshire.

The changing doors landscape has provided fabricators, installers and manufacturers with an unprecedented opportunity to innovate and surpass industry benchmarks when it comes to a homeowner’s front door. While some may see it as challenging, we have worked with Rehau to stay in tune with the changing waves of consumer demand, and we will continue to open the customer’s home to a world of new design possibilities.