Finding the right door for a busy workshop can be tricky. There are many different types of industrial door that may seem more-or-less suitable, but also may fall short of being the perfect fit.
It’s often best to find a reliable bespoke door manufacturer who can tailor a door for your workshop to your exact specifications – but even if that’s the route you’re taking, how do you know exactly what to ask for?
At NGF, we have plenty of experience designing doors from scratch to make sure it’s the perfect fit for a particular need, so here are some common questions we’d usually ask to help get you thinking about what you need.
Commercial or industrial workshop
A “workshop” is a pretty broad term, so if you’ve found your way here, you could have a totally different requirement from someone else.
The main consideration is whether your workshop is part of a busy industrial site, or if it’s more commercially focused, with members of the public coming and going – whether they’re asking for help, making a purchase, or even just popping by to take a look at what you do.
Safety is paramount in both respects, but for a commercial, public-facing site, safety is all the more important – members of the public who are unfamiliar with your workshop, and with wider health and safety concerns, will need to be looked after.
Making the workshop appealing to visitors could also be a key consideration. If it’s just staff on site, then you can keep your doors closed – but if you’re trying to invite customers in you may not be able to have the main shutter door open to the elements at all times, so you’ll need to think about pedestrian access. Viewing panels may be useful for letting people peek in, and a custom colour scheme can go a long way in making a workshop inviting.
Vehicle access
Considering who is coming and going day-in, day-out, is an important point – and it’s not just about the different classes of pedestrians! If you need vehicle access, whether for storing a van, or loading or unloading for deliveries, then this will impact the type of door your workshop needs.
If deliveries are a consistent factor in your day, then a loading dock could be a useful addition – or a high speed door that opens and closes quickly while allowing a vehicle to park right up against it.
If you don’t need vehicle access at all, you may only need a larger steel door as your main point of access – provided it’s appropriate from an environmental point of view.
Environmental factors
It’s not the energy efficiency of your door opening mechanism, so much as what impact your door has on the physical environment of the workshop space, and the people working there.
Does your workshop require a great deal of ventilation? A roller shutter that can essentially open up an entire wall of the building provides much more natural light and fresh air than windows. If keeping the warmth in while working through the winter is more of a concern, on the other hand, an insulated roller shutter can make a big impact on both the comfort of your staff, and the safe storage of items that require temperature control.
Fire safety
Speaking of temperature – workshops are often at the biggest risk of fire, due to the very nature of what’s going on within them.
Whether it’s welding work, or even just storing flammable chemicals, fire safety is absolutely essential in both the internal and external doors.
Fire resistance can be built into roller shutters, fire doors and fire exit doors, giving you quite a lot of options as to how you approach fire safety.
Talk it through with an expert
If you have a general idea of what challenges you need to address, the next step is to talk to a door manufacturer who can help scope out the perfect fit for your premises.
If you’re ready to get started, talk to NGF today!
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