This year’s FIT Show had lots to offer visitors this time round, including a buffet of the most advanced and innovative window and door products that UK fenestration has ever seen. It meant that as an exhibiting company, it was a tall order to stand out from the crowd.

Some did however, and one of those that caught my eye big time was Spitfire Doors. They did not have the biggest stand at the show by any means, but they had one of the most eye catching and aesthetically advanced products I have ever seen in the UK market. And had me asking myself, are these the best aluminium doors in our market?

The product

First, lets take a quick look at the product itself. Spitfire Doors are a specific range of very high-end aluminium doors from the Inotherm family and have been designed to suit a mature entrance door market and a consumer taste that is becoming more specific and demanding.

In the words of the Chairman, David Richards:

I established Spitfire Doors to satisfy the needs of customers who want to be presented with a wide range of high-end door options. We recognise that customers also want to deal with real specialists because the replacement front door market has matured and people want secure, attractive doors with built-in lifetime value, which makes aluminium doors the obvious choice.

According to their website, Spitfire Doors boasts a standard range of over 600 door designs. Surely that’s enough for choice for even the pickiest of consumers!

Their Platinum Door Collection comes in a 105mm deep outer frame, 3mm thick aluminium outer walls, 85mm thick leaf-enclosing infills and triple glazing with a U-Value of a highly impressive 0.5. Their doors can also be manufactured up to 1.2m wide and an impressive 2.7m high.

Here is just a small selection of those designs that Spitfire Doors have kindly allowed me to use as part of this article:

Image credit: Spitfire Doors

Sexy no? We all know that when most people buy things, its how the item looks that makes such a big difference, and these doors pretty much sell themselves based on their looks.

But as with every high quality product, it’s aesthetics are not the only thing going for it.

The tech

This is the bit I really like. These doors incorporating some of the best tech in doors:

  • Bluetooth pairing
  • Finger print recognition
  • Keypad operation
  • Smart spy-hole cameras
  • Built-in door lighting
  • Automated locking
  • Automated door opening and closing

That’s an impressive list of tech options, and it this that makes these types of doors ideal for home owners lucky enough to own a home with the equivalent grandeur. Or the self-builders who are spending serious cash on the home of their dreams.

If home owners are willing to spend good money on doors such as Spitfire, chances are that they will have a few quid to spend on the tech as shown above to give it the added wow factor.

But back to the question at hand, are these the best aluminium doors in the UK?

You have to say they have a good shout at that title, if there ever was one. They have the European build quality that these products are renowned for. They boast an endless colour and wood grain range giving home owners unlimited choice and personalisation. They have true 21st century technology built in. Thermal values are already beyond what Passivhaus requires them to be. They’re all visually stunning and the sheer size of the range available means that all tastes are catered for.

These are a taste of what aluminium entrance doors are like on the continent, and I’m glad to see that this influence is finally taking a hold here in the UK. I can see Spitfire Doors doing very well over time, and should shake things up as they go along.

Whether they’re the best I guess is up to personal opinion. However on the visual front it’s going to take something very special to overtake these guys in the looks department.

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