Designing for Accessibility: How Bespoke Door Hardware Solves Compliance Challenges
Accessibility isn’t an afterthought in modern architecture — it’s a baseline requirement. From public buildings to residential developments, specifiers must ensure that door assemblies comply with strict standards for clear opening widths, hardware usability, and circulation routes. For architects, this often raises a challenge: how to balance compliance with design intent.
This is where the right door hardware makes the difference.
The Challenge: Meeting Regulations Without Compromise
Building regulations such as Approved Document M (UK) set clear rules for door operation:
Pull handles must be mounted at heights accessible to all users.
Handle diameters must allow a secure grip, even for those with limited dexterity.
Door leaves with kick plates and vision panels must provide safe, inclusive circulation.
Egress routes must be unobstructed by barriers or poorly positioned hardware.
For architects, these requirements can clash with aesthetic aspirations — especially in high-profile projects where hardware is a visible design element.
The Solution: Hardware Designed with Accessibility in Mind
Our range of pull door handles, push plates, kick plates, vision panels, and pedestrian barriers are designed to integrate seamlessly into compliant assemblies:
Pull Handles: Available in a wide range of diameters, projections, and fixing centres to ensure compliance with accessibility standards, without limiting design.
Kick Plates: Protect doors in high-traffic areas while reducing the effort required to operate them.
Push Plates: Provide clear tactile operation zones that enhance usability.
Vision Panels: Manufactured in compliance with Part M sightline requirements, ensuring safe navigation for all building users.
Pedestrian Barriers: Designed to guide circulation while maintaining clear egress widths for accessibility compliance.
Case Study: Inclusive Design in a Public Space
In a recent transport hub project, architects needed hardware that met Part M regulations without compromising the sleek, modern aesthetic of the glazed entrances.
The solution combined:
Stainless steel pull handles with increased projection for easy grip.
FD30-rated doors with full-height vision panels placed at compliant sightlines.
Kick plates in brushed stainless steel for durability in a high-traffic environment.
Pedestrian barriers that guided circulation but maintained the required 1200mm clear width for wheelchair access.
The result was a fully compliant, durable, and visually coherent hardware package — delivered by a single manufacturer.
Conclusion
Accessibility doesn’t have to mean compromise. With bespoke and flexible hardware solutions, architects can create doors that are compliant, durable, and beautiful. By offering a coordinated range of pull handles, plates, panels, and barriers, we help specifiers meet every technical standard while keeping design intent at the forefront.
