A L U M I N I U M Pushing the boundaries As Fenster Fabrications gears up to launch an upgraded version of its flagship sliding door product, GGP talks to managing director, Tony Drake, about Uni_Slide. With sleek looks, minimal sightlines, quality, smoothsliding design and an emphasis on space and light, Uni_Slide is very much a product of the moment. Residential aluminium has become increasingly popular with discerning homeowners embarking on ambitious, Grand Designs-style improvement projects – and Fenster Fabrication claims that its signature sliding door delivers the exact blend of style, robustness and outstanding functionality that’s fuelled aluminium’s rocketing popularity. According to Fenster, Uni_Slide is a ‘premium-quality’ aluminium sliding door system, designed to balance minimalistic aesthetics with exceptional all-round performance – while still coming in significantly less expensive than similar products on the market. It’s reportedly capable of achieving impressive dimensions, having passed a security weather test of 2400 Pa on a door sash 3m tall and 2.2m wide, while doors can be assembled in an ‘unlimited’ run of units. Best-in-class Most fabricators assemble components produced by systems companies – Fenster itself is also a successful supplier of Smarts aluminium. However, Uni_Slide is an exclusive product. So where did it come from? Fenster MD, Tony Drake, explains: “Years ago, we began to see the emergence of a number of aluminium sliding door products. I was intrigued, so took it upon myself to study them in detail. Broadly, I was very impressed with what I saw. But the products were extremely expensive on the whole, and still had aspects I thought could be significantly improved on. “It was then I decided that we needed to be able to manufacture and offer our own ultra slim sliding door system that ironed out the flaws of the other products I’d seen. Not long after this, I studied for an MSc in facade engineering at Bath University, during which time I gained valuable knowledge that helped me understand and develop the product that would become Uni_Slide. “With this new-found knowledge, and a lot of help from my colleagues at Fenster Fabrications, we were able to offer an entirely new, best-in-class product.” With the number of high-end aluminium products on the market continuing to rise, another question to ask is what marks Uni_Slide out from the competition? “There’s been a steady stream of new products coming out over the past few years, all marketing themselves as premium-quality, and all looking to make gains at the higher end of the market – and some of them are genuinely excellent,” Tony continues. “But I feel that some are only playing lip-service to good design. Really, they’re just fairly standard products, that have been given some savvy marketing. “With Üni_Slide, you have a product that’s easy to use, that delivers exceptional security with its euro cylinder lock and multi-point stainless steel security cams, that’s incredibly thermally efficient and can take whatever the elements throw at it. And visually, it’s stunning – once installed, Uni_Slide genuinely makes it look as though there’s no door there at all, just a clear opening from the inside to the outside of the property.” Another level While it is clearly very proud of its product, Fenster has announced that it is now looking to enhance it further, and is currently putting the finishing touches on a new Uni_Slide door that, it claims, will ‘push the boundaries’ of what aluminium sliding doors can achieve even further. “We’re going to take what consumers already love about aluminium products to another level – and we’re extremely excited about introducing it to the industry.” 62 www.ggpmag.com August 2017
GGP August 2017
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