NATIONAL REPORT—For many designers, and the clients they represent, interior doors’ value as a design element has slowly diminished in recent years. No more the attention-grabbing “wall furniture” of the classical period and unlike their contemporary hardwood kin in floors and cabinetry, wood doors have been largely commoditized. For many, a door is just a door. But to those in the industry—and for a rapidly growing number of astute practitioners in the design/building community—doors have been rediscovered as a “haute commodity” in interior design.
Interior doors are enjoying a significant renaissance as new materials, fabrication technologies and sustainable design invigorate the product category. Nowhere is this trend more evident than in the hospitality sector, where doors are one of the key design elements, affecting both suite entrances and in-room decor.
Additionally, consumer awareness has translated into growing demand for healthful products. Low-VOC (volatile organic compound) or NAUF (no added urea formaldehyde) specifications, for example, were once a rarity found only in a fraction of building specs. Now, demand for products, including doors, that control emissions is high and many end users have a sophisticated understanding of the issues. Building and design professionals are well aware of the growing demand for healthful products and one need only look to the emergence of green certification schemes now available to hospitality to see the impact on lodging providers as guests seek healthful sleeping/meeting rooms for their travel and business events.
Reasons for Increase in Interest
• Awareness. Consumers no longer take building products like carpet and paint for granted. Likewise, interior doors are changing their image. Doors are enjoying a renewed attention to detail for verifiable sustainability and health attributes. Nationally supported programs like LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) have not only made the public aware, but have created an empirical way to substantiate environmental claims. Interior doors can make a significant contribution to the credits LEED awards. With more than 50,000 LEED accredited professionals now registered in North America, the continued growth of LEED is assured.
• Materials. As society comes to grips with sustainability and rising environmental health concerns, new materials are being considered. The necessity of finding new ways to produce doors has fostered creative partnerships along traditional value chains. Only a few years ago, door manufacturers were unable to buy a solid particleboard door core that used agricultural fiber as the base material. (“Agfiber” is rapidly renewable and reduces the strain on standing forests as a source for fiber.) But in recent years, thanks to the leadership of several brands, door makers have joined forces with their suppliers and invested together in the creation of agfiber cores. By using agfiber with a NAUF binder, door manufacturers are able to lead substantial change with no reduction in quality and only a minor difference in price.
• Fabrication Innovation. Discerning clientele want to see their personal sense of style reflected in the lodgings they choose. Unique yet honest design and product quality are two key factors in the success of interior design. Molded door products, a familiar choice in low-rise and residency suite properties, are one example of how authentic design—true to the original aesthetic found in Craftsman style homes—has caused what promises to be a seismic shift in the industry.
Several brands have jumped into the ring with new product offerings that pair wood’s native characteristics with the smart design of a flush door. By creating a flat, recessed panel, door designers combine the traditional look of a three panel door—the classic choice in popular Craftsman style design—with a monolithic door slab that is exceptionally stable and resistant to deflection, paint cracking and many of the other characteristic weaknesses associated with stile and rail doors. The marketplace is embracing the new look and strong pent-up demand is evident as designers and building owners await the release of these authentic new designs.
Sustainable Wood Veneers Available
For large multi-story hotels, innovative door designs with a modernist flair are achieving strong market penetration. Designs like “sketchface” doorskins (akin to inlaid furniture with wood veneers running at opposing directions) provide a winning combination of innovation, striking appearance and well-chosen materials. Top door brands also offer a huge range of wood veneers including Bamboo, Lyptus or Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certified wood. Door production facilities may qualify for Chain of Custody certification by FSC and competing standards like Sustainable Forestry Initiative to indicate that the wood used in their products comes from well-managed forests.
Many hoteliers choose to specify a custom suite entry and matching (but less costly) doors for the suite interior, closets, etc. Some higher-end properties make an upscale statement by matching door surfaces to the wood species—often exotic—used for the hardwood floors, wall paneling and case goods found in their finest guest suites and meeting rooms. Custom designs, low emission factory finishes and custom machining (to mount card locks, for example) illustrate the design freedom that is increasingly available in fire rated architectural doors used in North American hotels.
Interior doors in 2008 are no longer the matronly housedress, but are now imbued with the cachet of the “little black cocktail dress”—as long as that cocktail dress is healthful, sustainable and architecturally authentic.
Mitchell Toews is the business development director for Lynden Door, a wood interior door manufacturer in Lynden, Wash. Toews has been in the building products category since 1980 and takes special interest in green building issues. Lynden Door sells residential and architectural/commercial doors in Canada and the United States. Toews can be reached at mitch.toews@lyndendoor.com.
