Heritage External French Doors

Heritage style doors are a type of industrial steel-look door first introduced under the Crittall brand name in the late 19th century. They’re often referred to as heritage style doors as they replicate the look and feel of doors and windows that were popular in commercial and public buildings in the early 20th century. They have thin, black steel look frames, with a grid-like pattern laid over or between the glass panels.

Originally, this style of door was made of steel. They could be so big, with such large glass panels, that they needed metal frames to support the weight of the glass. However, steel doors can be expensive, heavy and not necessarily durable so we make our heritage style door using low maintenance, durable aluminium frames instead.

Aluminium frames are as strong and robust as steel windows and doors but they are also much more lightweight and cost-effective to produce.

Many different types of doors are made with the industrial steel look in mind. The design is often used for external patio door systems such as bifold doors or sliding doors, but they look particularly effective in French double doors.

A set of Heritage style French doors feature plenty of glazing to let natural light fill your home, and the thin aluminium frames help your rooms feel bigger, brighter and create an open plan feel between your indoor and outdoor spaces. 

They are also a design feature in themselves, with the dark frames creating a striking focal point of contrast in interiors and exteriors alike.

Heritage style doors are so called because they first appeared in the 1880's England, being installed in such buildings as the Houses of Parliament and the Royal Shakespeare Theatre to name a few.

The industrial look and practical design features of heritage doors is so striking that they have remained popular for more than a century, with the demand far outstripping the reach of a single company. 

The design has been updated and adapted, becoming the door of choice for art deco and period homes across the world.

The heritage style door has been in use since the 1880s, but was mostly popular in the art deco era of the 1920s and 30s, where steel and concrete came together as part of the modernist movement in home design. Today, the strong lines and recognisable, classic design of industrial style French doors means they work with every kind of home decor - from traditional to ultra-modern. 

Nowadays, because of their double glazing and slimline aluminium frames, industrial style French doors can help bring plenty of natural light into your home whilst still being thermally efficient and hardwearing despite their delicate appearance - without the weight and price tag associated with traditional steel doors. 

They're perfect for making your home feel bigger and lighter and in the summer, you can easily throw them open to create one big free-flowing space between your home and garden. And due to their lightweight nature, they're also a great option for those with mobility issues that struggle with heavier set doors.

Yes, all of our steel look patio doors are double glazed. We use low E toughened double glazing as standard in all our aluminium French doors.

Double glazing helps maintain the energy efficiency of your home, something which is particularly important for external doors. 

The big, beautiful glass panels used in our Heritage style doors allow an abundance of natural light to flow through and warm your home, while the double glazing and thermally broken aluminium still retains your centrally heated air - giving you the best of modern manufacturing with classic design and aesthetics.

Like all door styles, many things will affect whether aluminium steel look doors are energy efficient or not.

Traditionally, aluminium doors and windows have a reputation for being inefficient. 

However, with high-quality thermally broken aluminium frames, as with our Heritage style French doors, this is no longer the case. In fact, due to the quality glazing and frames, these doors boast a superior thermal performance rating of 1.5w/m2K. This not only meets but is significantly better than current UK Building Regulation requirements.

Partly this is down to the low E double glazing we use for the glass portions of the doors. More than this though, our frames are also designed to provide optimal thermal insulation as they are thermally broken.

Aluminium conducts heat very well which meant old frames let heat travel out and cold travel in via their surface. Thermally broken aluminium frames feature a separate insulating layer sandwiched in the centre of the frames. This stops the heat of your home from escaping or the chill of the outside sneaking in.

Instead, our steel look French doors offer incredible energy efficiency across both the glass and frames.

The main benefit of aluminium doors over steel doors is that they are cheaper to manufacture and therefore purchase. But for many people, the big draw is what they look like, how easy they are to maintain and how long they will last.

The average set of aluminium frame doors will last for 30 years with standard use. In this time, their robust powder coating will need minimal upkeep, particularly in comparison to timber doors. They won't warp or rot, like wooden or uPVC doors might, aluminium is naturally resistant to corrosion so they won't need regular painting to keep rust at bay as some steel windows and doors do.

The dark colour of this industrial style door will help them look cleaner for longer, and their smooth surface will make cleaning them a quick, easy job when it is carried out.

The Climadoor heritage style door range starts at just under £1700. This includes everything you need, from the frames to the handles and locking system, they all come with free mainland UK delivery, too. The price increases with the size of the French door that you need, so the exact cost of your doors could differ.

Our wide range of sizes means you can choose heritage style French patio doors with additional sidelights, as well as without, depending on the size of opening you’d like to go for. The addition of sidelights will increase the price quite significantly, so this needs to be considered when deciding on sizes.

The cost of steel look doors can actually be balanced out over the long term, as installing a set of beautiful industrial style doors into a modern, or early 20th century property can actually help boost its value.

Heritage style doors are no less secure than any other style of patio door. In fact, they may even be more secure in some cases due to the unique structure of the aluminium frames and modern manufacturing techniques. 

We supply the latest multi-point locking system as standard across our wide range of external French doors to prevent easy access. This ensures your home is protected to the highest level and every deterrent has been used to make your home as secure as possible.

The 4mm toughened glass we use in our glazing is also a safe and secure option, as it’s treated at high temperatures to make it up to 5x stronger than standard glass. This makes it harder to break and helps it stand up to excessive force. All of our steel look French doors are internally beaded too, for added security.