Winning entry: BWF Product Design In Wood Award

Project: To design a quick fitting internal door

BWF Member Firm: Howdens Joinery & Norma Doors

Type of work/product(s) produced:  Doors, kitchens, staircases and joinery

The fitting of a typical joinery door has probably not changed in over 100 hundred years and this submission recognises the work that has been done to bring to market a door that is both simpler and quicker to install when compared to a traditional UK joinery door. The Quick Fit Door developed by Howdens Joinery and Norma Doors has halved the time taken to fit a door and may have changed how all doors will be fitted in the future.

Instead of trimming the door down to size in the traditional way the Quick Fit Door can be reduced in width by moving the stiles in and out to the desired size then securing with screws top and bottom. The fixings are carefully positioned to ensure no conflict when installing the door furniture, simply sliding in and out of the centre panel.

Currently available in two sizes in a Linear design. Those two doors cover all required finished sizes and anything in-between, giving additional benefits in terms of a reduced stock holding.

The door can be reduced in height by simply trimming down in the normal way and the securing screws have been recessed to ensure they remain clear during this process. Hardware is fitted in the traditional way (although the overall installation time can be improved even further through the use of Howdens Quick Fit Latch).

The Quick Fit Door is also prefinished with a lacquer specified for the UK market; this means the door has a natural open grain finish and requires no additional finishing after installation.

The door has gone through a series of rigorous tests in the Howdens labs which included both load and relative humidity testing to ensure it is both robust and durable for the end user and fit for the trade customer.

This is a truly innovative development that both Howdens and Norma are genuinely proud of and is available in the UK exclusively to Howdens.

The BWF Product Design in Wood Award rewards excellence in technical innovation, application, and achievement innovation in joinery product manufacture and design. This is a new award – splitting out 2015’s Technical Award – to recognise innovation in design and technical excellence for a specific product, rather than a project. The 2016 Award is sponsored by Teknos.