Our industry has gone through immense change over the past ten years. Its an industry that looks very different now than it did in 2010. We were coming out of the other side of the biggest global crash since the Great Depression. The banking system around the world nearly collapsed. Recession was deep and prolonged. It forced us as a sector to innovate and evolve to be able to keep attracting business from the general public.

As we start a new decade and look forward to the new things just around the corner, I want to take a look at the 5 products that changed our industry the most over the past ten years. This is a simple 1-5 list and not a ranking. This will be a list of product only, not products from companies. These are my own thoughts and opinions, if you believe I have missed off something important please give your ideas via the comments section below.

1. Composite door

The composite door was not invented in the past decade, that was the decade before. But, it was in 2010's that the composite door really pushed through the gears in terms of growth and popularity and it changed the entrance door market for good.

Home owners have tuned into the idea of doors with colour, doors with an obvious wood grain texture. Doors that are ultra-traditional and very contemporary. Doors with funky door hardware and alternative glass designs. You get all this with composite doors and home owners bought into the idea heavily in the past ten years.

The product has undergone its own big changes over the past ten years. Starting its early years with a dozen or so colours with a fairly wide range of glass and hardware options, now to coming with aluminium-effect finishes, even more hardware options, some amazingly funky glass designs and smart door tech now being integrated into some options. I don't think its too grand a statement to say it single-handedly revolutionised the entrance door market in the UK.

Its not without its flaws, there have been sporadic quality problems across the sector, but that is no different to any other type of product in fenestration. It remains incredibly popular with installers across the board and many composite door manufacturers have undergone immense growth over the past ten years. Our industry would not be what it is today without the composite door.

2. Lantern roof

The conservatory market was in a dire state at the start of the last decade. Emerging from recession, a market that had been falling year after year since its peak in 2004. Something radical was required to help turn the ship around. Many products sprung up out of the great innovation cycle at the start of the decade, another product of which will be featured in this list. But it was lantern roof that helped change not only the conservatory market, but helped open up a brand new one to fenestration: flat roofs.

Before the lantern roof had we really considered the potential in the flat roof market? Not really. Some installers dabbled in rubber and EPDM roofs, but that was still just creating a dark flat roof. Suddenly, the industry had the ability to open up millions of flat roof extensions thanks to the glass lantern roof. Lets be clear, the ability to do that had already existed. Installers have always been able to put a tiny conservatory roof into a flat roof if they wanted to. But this was different. Lantern roofs were being specifically designed to be installed easily and quickly into flat roofs. Installers had an almost ready-made option at their hands now.

The potential was, and is, massive. If there are three million conservatories out there which are in need of updating and renovating, I'd wager there's at least the same, if not more, flat roof extensions out there. Many are in Kitchens and Dining rooms, all of which could benefit from more natural light. Thanks to manufacturers designing and producing modern lantern and now flat glass roofs, it has never been easier to open up a dark room.

I still don't think the industry has made the most of the opportunities out there however. The lantern is a good product thats easy to make and simple to install. There are millions of flat roofs out there. We should be hitting the public hard with this option and talking about the benefits both with the product and cost. Could be a huge market for 2020.

3. The solid roof

Perhaps the biggest change to happen to the conservatory market was the solid roof. One of the biggest new products to come out of the great innocation age was the solid roof. Created to address the age old problems of existing conservatories being far too cold in the winter and far too hot in the summer. Suddenly there was a way for home owners to go about making their conservatories rooms they could use 12 months of the year, without having to knock it all down and build an extension.

Naturally, there are varying qualities in this new marketplace. Some good, some not so good. And I still question as to whether all installers are going down the correct legal framework when carrying out these jobs. Remember, a conservatory is no longer a conservatory once a solid roof is put on it. It becomes an extension, and with it comes extra paperwork.

That aside, installers very quickly got on board with the idea and in the past ten years we have seen the solid roof market grow from niche to full blown market of its own. Huge numbers of conservatories are now being upgraded with solid roofs, and many brand new structures are being built with solid roofs as standard. For many installers, it has provided much needed new revenue stream, at a time where profitability is difficult and even survival is questionable.

As it is, the conservatory market isn't really a conservatory market anymore. Its more accurate to call it the glazed extension market, and that is very much down to the growth of the solid roof.

4. Bi-folding doors

This one has always fascinated me. We live in a country where the weather rarely allows for us to open up one whole side of a house. A lot of our housing stock doesn't come with a view that takes our breath away. Yet, here we are, and bi-folding doors in the last decade became one of the most popular door options on the market.

The UK public however love their homes, and there is no grander way to open up a side of your home than with a bi-folding door. We do get the odd hot day, and its a great feeling to open up the doors in their natural spectacular fashion and invite the outside to meet the inside.

Primarily the bi-fold is at home in the world of aluminium. I would even credit it with helping to revive the modern residential aluminium sector as a whole. There are timber and PVCu options as well. The early PVCu stuff wasn't great, but it has got better over time, and remains the more budget friendly option. I would still pick an aluminium bi-fold over all others however given the choice.

Its not just how its inspired home owners over the past ten years, but that its also shown the industry that it has to put design at the forefront of our products as much as anything else. The bi-fold door has shown us that home owners can get excited about window and door purchases. For me, the bi-fold door has been one of the products of the decade not only because of the tangible impact it has made, but the trickle-down effects of design and material it has had on other parts of our industry.

5. Flush windows

I love this product. I genuinely do. I love to sell it and love to see them installed. We did our most in terms of flush window sales last year at our place and we turned out some stunning installations.

The PVCu window industry was crying out for a true bit of innovation and we produced the flush window. I think there was some hesitation at first. Our industry is notoriously skeptical about new things. But Residence 9 showed the way early on and now every significant systems company has a flush window option on the market, and sales are growing across the board.

PVCu has always been accused as being chunky and less than minimal. To some extent that is true, especially when you compare it to aluminium. But when the flush window hit, that argument began to ebb away. We now had a PVCu window flat on the outside, with either normal PVCu welds or timber look joints to go one step further in recreating a timber aesthetic. Throw in an array of sexy colours and hardware, and you had a window which home owners would genuinely take a step back from and admire.

Flush windows took root in our industry in the past decade, and sales of the stuff rose throughout. But I think the 20's is where we'll see sales really take a step up. Home owners and installers love it, and as more pictures of finished installations make their way through social media and into brochures, expect to see it explode in the next decade.

Hopefully you'll agree with at least a couple of these! If you think I have left off any major contenders please leave them via the comments section below!

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