The Alumina Story: Still a Shining Star for Liniar

Launched three years ago at the 2016 FIT Show, the Alumina bi-fold was an industry-first and turned heads for all the right reasons. Now, a few years on, we revisit this revolutionary aluminium product to find out if it’s been as successful as expected with fitters, fabricators and savvy homeowners.

The team behind Alumina included Liniar’s now Design and Development Director, Chris Armes, who explains the motivation behind Alumina and why it was the right time to bring this product to market for Liniar.

Innovation
“Liniar launched the industry’s first bespoke PVCu bi-folding door in 2010, followed by the ModLok™ bi-fold in 2014, which later went on to win a Queen’s Award for Innovation.
Despite the ModLok™ bridging the gap between PVCu and aluminium, we knew customers still wanted an aluminium system to offer in their range. Feedback told us that the aluminium supply chain could be difficult, and we often heard the phrase “If only we could have an aluminium supplier that was as easy to deal with as Liniar!”

“This spurred us on to think: what if we could create our first aluminium product that could be supplied with PVCu profile orders and matched Liniar PVCu windows, so consumers could have the best of both worlds?

“Our goal was to provide Liniar customers with a unique product that not only enabled wider and taller openings and additional strength to PVCu, but performed with the same excellent thermal efficiency as the rest of the Liniar range – and so the Alumina range was born.”

Uniquely different
Chris continues, “As Liniar has its own in-house lamination department, we were able to carry out plenty of test runs to see if we could foil aluminium profiles to the same high quality as PVCu – and were delighted when the results were incredible. This gave us a point of differentiation to start with, as foiled aluminium doors simply didn’t exist. We also designed the lines of Alumina to be sculptured, so for the first time the homeowner would be able to get a fully matching set of PVCu windows and a large aluminium bi-folding door.

“The feedback we’ve received from industry experts is that Alumina also fares well as a stand-alone product. It competes well against the former industry-leading bi-fold systems on all levels – aesthetics, performance, thermal efficiency and of course security.”

Highly secure
Chris explains, “Installers can give clients the peace of mind that Alumina doors are incredibly secure. The locking system follows the same principals as Liniar’s ModLok™ technology, including multiple bi-directional locking points, shootbolts which secure firmly into the track, and built-in anti-lift features and anti-bump cylinders. With PAS24 and Secured by Design accreditation it’s one of the most secure bi-folds on the market – and customers love that.”

Installers love Alumina
“Installers who have fitted an Alumina door, whether a bi-fold, French door or residential door, all comment on how easy it is to fit. PVCu beads make glazing much simpler and add to the door’s thermal efficiency too.
“Alumina also comes with full installation instructions and a suite of marketing tools, making it easy to sell to the consumer. Available in a choice of powder-coated colours and foils, the customer can choose different options for internal and external faces – so they can match their décor inside the room.
“This allows installers to offer Alumina bi-folds on more jobs than ever before.”

Feedback
Glen Speake, one of the first fitters to use Alumina, is well known in the area for outstanding, cutting-edge installations. Glen commented, “Since that first project, I haven’t looked back – I’ve used Liniar windows and Alumina doors together on a number of projects and the positive feedback from homeowners has been overwhelming.

“Alumina definitely hasn’t disappointed. The low threshold is so simple to fit, it doesn’t even need a trench digging out – and the doors themselves are full of ingenious features such as discreet magnets and folding keys… it just looks beautiful.”

The Future
When a product is seemingly already at the top of its game, how can it get better? Chris Armes explains, “Liniar has a well-earned reputation for innovation. The team continues to enhance and improve while also introducing new products which raise the bar for the rest of the industry – so watch this space!”

The future of Alumina is bright indeed!

For more information visit http://alumina.liniar.co.uk/. If you’re interested in fabricating or fitting Alumina doors, email alumina@liniar.co.uk.