The creativity involved in constructing a door is noticeable for people with eyes for details and beauty.

A door renaissance is taking place, with the latest designs displaying unprecedented wit, character and glamour reports FUNKE OSAE-BROWN.

When one thinks about a door, the first thing that comes to mind is a piece of frame hewed out of a log of wood to prevent intruders from breaking into the home but there is more to a door than that.

The creativity involved in constructing a door is noticeable for people with eyes for details and beauty. In the days of yore, legends, heroes, heroines, memorable scenes from wars even the market place are engraved as designs on wooden doors for aesthetics. But in recent times, this has been modernised as pictures and designs are imported from Europe and other parts of Asia to add beauty to the making of modern doors.

This trend is also traceable to the change in the taste of modern Nigerians for imported materials and the belief among the rich class that foreign goods are durable than home made products. In addition, the quality of your home accessories also speak of your class more importantly, the quality and durability of the door in any home says a lot about the caliber of those who reside in it.

Apart from the class and taste issues, the level of sophistication involved in the fabrication of modern doors also has to do with the need for security. The high rate of armed robbery is forcing many people to become more security conscious. The rich class has drifted away from the common wooden doors to those made of sophisticated metal stuffed with foam-like materials that prevent bullet penetration. For individuals that still have flair for wooden doors, they go for doors made of both mahogany and metal. Likewise, the durability of metal has made it a toast of some.

The decline in the use of woods Chukwuemeka Udensi, general manager, Goldline Nigeria Limited, explains is due to the need to conserve nature mainly the trees in the forest.

“We no longer have pure wooden doors because of the talk about conservation, recycling; as a result, people are devising means to conserve nature. Metals are raw materials that can be recycled unlike the normal wood; termites can eat them up because they are not treated. Also, in Nigeria, we do not allow our woods to mature. I mean the treatment we give to woods in terms of drying. We do not have the technology even when we do; we do not have the power generating system. It is not good enough to dry the wood, you must also treat them. When you did not dry it, you can have the wood finishing but after a while the weather affects it, especially harmattan and the wood deteriorates, it will not be able to serve the purpose. People now prefer to go for metal doors that will last longer,” he says.

The level of sophistication involved in the fabrication of modern doors also has to do with the need for security

Udensi says that bullet proof doors have been in existence before now but many did not pay more attention to it and it is the poor level of security in the country that has brought about an increase in the demand for doors that are bullet resistance. “These doors have been in circulation before now; just that they are not as popular and as many as they are today. The taste of people are changing for so many things including doors, sophistication has also crept into this area.

Like computer, in those days, it was not as popular as it is now. Almost everybody today has a laptop. When you talk about security in doors, they are bullet resistance; they are not bullet proof as in the real sense of bullet proof. Bullets have categories, there are bullets that can be fired at a door that will penetrate some cannot.”

The question then is how effective are the bullet proof doors in providing adequate security? To this Uzor Ajamire, a dealer in doors says, “Security doors are just meant to delay the penetration of bullets for those being attacked to call for assistance but there is nothing like bullet proof doors. It is only God that give full protection what these doors do is that they can delay the attack. There are doors made of glass that are also bullet proof. The bullet proof comes in form of films that are placed on the doors.”

Many of the doors are imported from abroad because of their durability Nigeria does not have the facilities to manufacture them at home. “The doors we have come with good quality keys like the Italian ones last for a long time. This is one of the reasons why people go for the metal doors not just anyone but the Italian brand. However, some people still import the fake ones but for us, what we have done is that most of our doors are imported and we give specifications based on quality not just the money. We import from Europe and Asia.”

Udensi explains that there is an opportunity for customers’ to place orders for any design of their choice. “We deal in customised doors. There are some that are carved specifically for Muslims with pictures of mosque and that of Christians, we have the pictures of the Ozor title from Igboland and we also have designs with the sculptures of Benin. It all depends on the customers’ request. American styles are elaborate which people are now going for. You have the six inches and nine inches frames. The nine inches, before people just go for them but these days people now use it for internal walls instead of the exterior that it was normally used for. We bring the nine inches and 33 inches which is the standard door, we also have the nine inches, 29” door that can be used for toilet and bathrooms or as kitchen doors.”

There is demand for luxury door handles by high-end interior designers.

The constraints facing the dealers in doors is the inconsistency in government policies caused by the continuous change in government.

“One of the things that is affecting us is the inconsistency in government policies. They change it every day like the pre-shipment and destination inspections which they have changed several times. This is making the business difficult; we have many containers at the port because of the clearance system. We are not able to clear them on time. Customers are coming with money but we could not sell, there have been pressures from customers on the little stock that we have,” says Ajamire.

In addition to doors, attention has also been shifted to door handles. There is demand for luxury door handles by high-end interior designers.

Some of the sought after designs were made by British designer, Edwin Heathcote. Through is UK based company, Izé he has designed exclusive door Candy & Candy for whom he created bespoke nickel-plated door handles for One Hyde Park, including flush designs, as well as rectangular-section levers and pull handles. All the pieces were inspired by Otto Wagner’s Viennese modernism.

Furthermore, latest door handle designs are luxurious and contemporary. Findings show that clients are giving designers bigger and bigger budgets for door handles now. For instance, if they are specifying a cabinet cost about N3, 000, 000 then they will spend about N300, 000 or more for the handles. Some consumers believe they are the bit you touch, hence the design of the handle can make a big difference to the overall effect of the door.