CASE STUDY
BLUEPRINT NARRATIVE
We tend to preserve what is important. Museums are often the places where we do this, and people travel from all over the world to experience history, understand different cultures, and learn about what societies have been through. But what about the neighbourhoods we live in every day?
One of the most remarkable aspects of London’s conservation areas is that they are, in many ways, living museums. They preserve the architectural character, craftsmanship, and identity of a particular place. Once these historic features are lost, they are often impossible to recreate exactly.
Fortunately, when it comes to entrance doors, restoration and replication can be achieved with the right expertise.
THE BRIEF
Maintaining the character of an attractive neighbourhood while ensuring a home remains secure is a challenge faced by many homeowners in conservation areas. Modern security standards are essential, but they must often be incorporated without altering the original appearance of the property.
For this project on Radnor Road in NW6, the property featured highly distinctive entrance doors with intricate mouldings and exceptionally detailed sandblasted glass units. The homeowners wanted an exact replica of the original design while upgrading the door’s security and performance.
CRAFTSMANSHIP
Many manufacturers claim they can replicate historic door designs. In reality, most rely on standard CNC-machined moulding profiles to recreate decorative details. While these methods can produce something visually similar, they rarely achieve an exact match to the original craftsmanship. By contrast, our CNC-machinery can be manually adjusted to produce and precisely match the specific moulding and milling profiles required, ensuring a reproduction of the original design.
For this particular project, “similar” was simply not sufficient. To recreate a historic door accurately, every detail must be recorded during the site survey.
THE SITE SURVEY
We begin by taking precise measurements of the door dimensions, panel layouts, moulding widths, and moulding depths. More importantly, we use a specialised profile gauge tool to capture the exact shape of the original mouldings. This allows us to record the profile in three dimensions, which can then be transferred into detailed technical drawings for manufacturing.
This process ensures that the replicated door matches the original design as closely as possible, preserving the architectural integrity of the property.
THE GLASS UNITS
The glass units presented an equally important challenge. Multiple photographs and detailed measurements were taken and incorporated into the design drawings. However, accurately reproducing sandblasted glass units requires more than simply copying the visual appearance.
In conservation areas, the design must often align with specific heritage requirements regarding patterns, colours, leadwork arrangements, and historic detailing. Achieving this requires close collaboration with homeowners, architects, and designers, who liaise closely with local authorities and conservation officers throughout the process.
Managing and interpreting this information can be complex, particularly when multiple stakeholders are involved. Our experience in conservation area projects allows us to coordinate this process efficiently, ensuring that all requirements are properly understood and incorporated into the final design.
THE RESULT
The result was a beautifully replicated entrance door that continues to contribute to the historic character of this distinctive street while providing the performance expected from a modern security door.
Although the door appears identical to the original from the outside, its construction is entirely different. A reinforced steel structure forms the core of the door, providing exceptional resistance against forced entry, while carefully crafted wood cladding preserves the traditional appearance.
Similarly, the sandblasted glass units, while visually faithful to the historic design, is incorporated into a high-performance triple-glazed unit that offers enhanced security, thermal insulation, and durability.
The finished installation demonstrates that heritage preservation and modern security do not need to be competing priorities. With the right approach, it is possible to protect the architectural character of a conservation area while providing homeowners with the safety and performance required for modern living.
Discuss your requirements with our design team. We create bespoke security solutions tailored to your property’s unique architecture.
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