Innovations and trends in front doors

New product lines, high-end or standard plastic and aluminum door panels in all desired colors and sizes. Individuals composing their own front door through the dream door configurator on the supplier's website, anything is possible nowadays.

Polytec Netherlands in Assen, a subsidiary of the German Rodenberg Türsysteme since 2010, makes it all possible for its customers, mainly professionals in the window frame industry. As a sales office, Polytec is the largest total supplier in the Netherlands of plastic and aluminum door panels, sandwich panels and decorative hardware. "Uniquely, we offer a complete program with all models in any desired color, from high-end to standard door panels," says director Ronnie Poelstra. These are complete front door panels with dimensions of up to 1.20 by 2.69 m, and sometimes even larger. This also sets us apart from others. Each door is specially manufactured per order, in Germany."

Dutch market

The company develops door panel programs aimed at the Dutch market. Says Poelstra, "We have many different, trends and a diversity of models here, think 1930s front doors, but also doors with a rusty industrial look."

'The customer thereby follows the preference of the individual'

A great example is the most recent Polytec series (from the end of 2018): the Art-decor line. This is part of the Dutch Design Doors whose latest catalog was recently published. The Art-decor panels have a profiling consisting of a small V-groove and wood textures incorporated both vertically and horizontally in the same model. In addition, Polytec also supplies panels with an exterior of Art ceramic, tempered glass, in a number of designs such as Corten steel for an industrial look.

Poelstra: "Furthermore, there is still a lot of demand for nostalgic - timeless models, for example panels with decorative grilles. We were the first to start with these 10 years ago. They were originally made only of wood, but nowadays also of plastic and aluminum."

Wing overlay panels and warm edge glass

Most commonly sold are the somewhat more expensive wing-covered plastic door panels. "They are more popular than the inset door panels," continues Poelstra. "The high-quality wing overlay panels are more secure because better burglar resistance, more durable and look nicer. Moreover, the coefficient of expansion of only 1 per mil ensures minimal stress on the door leaf. That's unique!"

The glazing is also special. In all relevant doors of Polytec, it is executed as standard in warm edge glass. This ensures a higher insulation value because there is no thermal bridge between the outer and inner glass. Laminated safety glass 33.1 is used for this purpose. Usually this is HR++, but depending on the chosen system and customer requirements, triple glass is also possible.

Innovative

In doing so, the customer follows the preference of the individual. The latter can now compose their own front door with the extensive dream door configurator on the website of the frame supplier. This tool is provided by Polytec to all customers so that they can place the configurator with their own logo on the company website.

It is different with projects, where the architect's wishes are leading. As a main example, Poelstra mentions project Tuinstadwijk Leiden. "Together with Ploeg kozijnen, we supplied doors there for 247 homes that fell under protected cityscape. The architect wanted to bring back the image and atmosphere of the past. A successful project that was completed in 2014."

Polytec is not deterred by such comprehensive projects. "We have become a large and healthy company for a reason. We deliver top products and do not shy away from challenges. And we are constantly working on innovations in the process!" the director said.