Contemporary Doors: Modern Design, Genuine Timber
Not every project we take on is period restoration. Extensions, renovations, and modern infill builds often call for a front door that reads as deliberately current — clean lines, minimal ornamentation, and a visual language that belongs to the present rather than referencing any historical style. The challenge in this space is rarely design; it is material. The contemporary door market is dominated by aluminium and composite products, and genuinely well-designed contemporary timber doors are far less common than they should be.
A contemporary door from Old English Doors uses the same solid hardwood construction and traditional joinery integrity as our period work, but applies it to simplified, modern proportions: larger uninterrupted glazed sections, minimal or absent panel moulding, flush or near-flush surface treatments, and hardware selected for clean geometric lines rather than period reference. The result is a door that achieves the visual minimalism contemporary design calls for, without sacrificing the warmth, grain, and tactile quality that only real timber provides — qualities that aluminium and composite alternatives cannot genuinely replicate regardless of how they are finished.
This matters particularly for period properties that have been sensitively extended or modernised, where a fully traditional door would feel at odds with a contemporary rear extension or interior renovation, but a generic aluminium product would equally clash with the property's older fabric. A well-designed contemporary timber door bridges this gap — modern enough to sit comfortably against new architecture, but warm and textured enough not to fight with whatever period character the original building retains.
We design every contemporary door around the specific opening and the surrounding architecture, just as we do with our period work. The difference lies entirely in the design language we apply, not in any reduction of craftsmanship or material quality. Glazing can be specified as large single panes, multiple simplified divisions, or fully solid depending on privacy and light requirements, and timber species and finish are selected to complement modern render, brick, or cladding as readily as they complement period brickwork.
For new-build properties, contemporary extensions, and any renovation project where a genuinely modern door is the right design choice, solid timber remains a materially superior option to anything composite or aluminium can offer — durability, repairability, and a quality of finish that ages well rather than simply wearing out.
We design and install bespoke contemporary doors for homeowners and developers across Nottingham, Leicester, Derby, Sutton Coldfield, Manchester, St Albans, Birmingham, Coventry, Wolverhampton, Northampton, Warwick, Solihull, and Worcester, for both renovation projects and new-build construction.
