The gap between two numbers

An apartment door has a 90 by 200 cm clear frame and a 108 by 210 cm overall size. A villa entrance moves those to 145 by 215 cm and 165 by 223 cm. The extra 55 centimetres is not simply more width: it changes leaf weight, hinge count, bolt throw and how many points fix the frame to the wall.

Two questions get skipped when a villa opening is measured. Will that width be carried by one leaf or two, and does the height belong to the leaf or to a transom? Pattern selection comes after those answers, because the pattern is scaled to the division.

What 145 cm does on a single leaf

A single leaf can be built to 145 cm, at a price. Its own weight acts on the hinge line like a lever, and the wider the leaf the stronger the tendency to drop on the lock side. Counteracting that means four hinges, a heavier frame profile and a door that is simply heavy to swing. On a windy garden entrance, a 145 cm leaf catches the whole gust while it is open.

The single leaf has one real advantage: no vertical joint through the middle. If a forged or laser-cut composition should stay whole, one leaf keeps it whole.

Proportions for two leaves

The common arrangement splits 145 cm into roughly 90 plus 55. The wide leaf handles daily traffic; the narrow one stays bolted and opens only when furniture moves. Daily use then costs one leaf of wind load and heat loss instead of two. Below about 50 cm the narrow leaf stops earning its place, because even with both open a fridge will not pass.

An equal split of 72.5 plus 72.5 suits classical fronts with columns, cornices or mirrored glazing, where symmetry completes the composition. The cost is a 72.5 cm daily passage, which fits a person but not an armchair. With symmetric leaves, plan a lock keep on both sides so neither leaf is left permanently bolted.

Height: leaf or transom

At 215 cm the leaf is still a sensible single piece. When the opening reaches 230 to 250 cm there are two routes. Stretching the leaf makes the entrance monumental and adds weight to the hinges. Keeping the leaf at 215 cm and closing the rest with a fixed transom, glazed or solid, brings daylight into the hall and keeps the leaf manageable. That is why transoms are common across our glazed villa steel doors.

The same logic applies sideways. Once the opening passes 180 cm, adding one or two fixed side lights gives a better balanced front than inflating the leaves, and keeps leaf sizes near standard.

Frame depth and wall thickness

Villa walls are usually thicker than apartment walls, with insulation, stone cladding or a cavity in play. Villa and building entrance frames are therefore adjustable between 20 and 24 cm. Measure the wall including external cladding; stone or insulation board added later is the quietest way to lose frame depth.

Threshold, levels and floor

Outdoors a threshold is part of water management, not a preference. If the garden level sits close to the door level, rain walks in. Note the finished level in front of the door and the position of any drainage channel. If paving is still to come, subtract its thickness from the opening height, or the leaf will drag once the floor rises.

What to send with the order

  • Width at bottom, middle and top; height at left, centre and right.
  • Wall thickness, and whether external cladding is finished.
  • One leaf or two, and which leaf carries daily traffic.
  • Transom or side lights, glazed or solid.
  • Swing direction and hinge side.
  • Whether a canopy shelters the door.

Outside standard sizes the frame profile is recut, the pattern rescaled and the lock axis repositioned. Send a model together with the measurements and the quotation is made for that opening, the same way wide compositions in building entrance doors are adapted. For a composite face, the size ranges in the composite doors group are the starting point.