It’s all in the detail

Kerry Blackford, senior category manager at ERA, discusses how window and door manufacturers can capitalise on demand for heritage hardware.

With property owners spending more time at home in recent years, decorating and renovation projects have taken priority for many, in response to the rapidly increasing cost of moving house.

In fact, according to a survey from Money.co.uk, 88% of respondents had undertaken a home renovation of some kind in 2022.

At the same time, the heritage trend has continued to grow, with homeowners looking to combine the best of traditional property features and modern performance characteristics.

Traditional meets modernity

Fabricators will know that heritage-style doors and flush casement windows are a hit with many homeowners, due to their combination of classic aesthetics and modern performance.

Thanks to improved energy efficiency, limited maintenance and increased durability, consumers are making design choices that are sympathetic to the period their property was built in, or are opting for timeless styles that will add enduring appeal to more modern homes.

With homeowners opting to remain true to the traditional charm of these styles, heritage hardware is also seeing an increase in popularity, with consumers eager to add authentic finishing touches.

Therefore, it becomes important for fabricators to not only offer the best in hard-wearing, functional, and secure hardware items but also provide aesthetically pleasing offerings too.

Decisions, decisions

Fortunately, there is now much greater choice available to homeowners.

While the overarching heritage hardware style is distinct, there are a range of options to choose from, creating an opportunity for end users to specify exact styles, colours and finishes.

For example, the Fab&Fix monkey tail door handle in the gorged range offers more drama, while the Heritage handle offers an elegant, yet simple style.

Additionally, while polished finishes remain steadfast in popularity, more homeowners are opting for industrial hues, such as pewter and forged and antique black, given that these finishes are reminiscent of traditional black iron and aged pewter hardware that date back as far as the 1800s.

Benefits to fabricators

A versatile offering is going to open up many opportunities to window and door manufacturers with customers who are now expecting a much greater depth of design choice.

There is no doubt that with the increase in popularity of heritage door and window styles, interior-savvy consumers will be looking to complete the look with traditional style hardware that offers all the benefits of modern design, such as robust security performance, corrosion resistance and operational excellence.

Additionally, adding heritage style options is an effective way of standing out against competitors who may be offering much of the same standard styles to their customers. Moving with the times is essential in an industry driven by trends and the assorted styles of property available to homeowners in the modern world.

The Fab&Fix Heritage range, for example, offers a sophisticated selection of window and door hardware, in a range of Hardex finishes, for fabricators to choose from. This includes the new tear drop and monkey tail key locking handles that can be installed on timber and PVC-U casements windows, when used with an espagnolette lock.

The handles are an extension to the extensive Fab&Fix decorative range, which now offers manufacturers more versatility to create perfectly matching doors and windows in a range of Hardex finishes, for a variety of property styles.

Leading the way in performance standards, all Fab&Fix ranges endure up to 1,000 hours of prohesion testing and have 30-years of proven field performance.