PRODUCT · FABRIC DOORS FOR LARGE OPENINGS
Vertical lifting fold-up doors for buildings that have almost nothing above the lintel. The leaf folds into a compact stack under the header instead of travelling up into it, so the door fits openings a vertical lift leaf cannot — retrofits, aircraft shelters, and openings beneath a live crane rail.
PVC-coated technical fabric welded into horizontal panels, with an aluminium section at each joint sized to carry the fold. The panel pitch is what sets the depth of the stack, and the stack is the whole reason for this family.
Each joint folds outward in sequence, so the leaf gathers into a compact stack immediately below the header instead of travelling up into it. Headroom required above the lintel 0.9 m.
Vertical edges run in the same keder-and-roller guide system as the vertical lift family, so the load path — leaf, keder, roller, guide, column, building — is identical. Only the geometry above the opening changes.
Positive engagement at intervals up the opening, so the classification is earned by the same mechanism as on a vertical lift door. Class EN 12424 up to class 5.
Because nothing travels above the lintel, a live crane rail, a duct run or a gantry can sit directly over the door. Hook height is unchanged and the rail is never taken out of service.
Measure the distance from the top of the opening to the first thing that is committed above it — a truss, a duct, a crane rail, a roof. Below roughly 0.9 m the choice is made for you: the leaf has to fold rather than lift. Above it, the vertical lift family gives wider spans and a faster cycle, so it is normally the better door.
The same PVC fabric, the same keder-and-roller load path, the same EN 12424 classification route and the same corrosion specification. The choice is geometry, not quality — and the two doors are quoted against the same calculation. Fabric vertical lift doors →
The primary case for this family. Where a live crane rail crosses the opening, the fold-up leaf stacks below it — no loss of hook height, no rail modification, no shutdown. Specified on cycles per shift rather than on span.
Heavy industry doors →Existing hangar heads were rarely designed around a door. Where the structure above the lintel is committed to trusses or services, the fold-up leaf goes in without rebuilding the head — and the building stays in service through the works.
Aircraft hangar doors →Shelter and hardened structures have almost nothing above the opening by design. The fold-up leaf suits that geometry, and is quoted against the building’s stated pressure case with the documentation the tender asks for.
Military & defence hangar doors →Fabrication halls with a gantry or a runway beam across the elevation. Same corrosion specification as the vertical lift family — the moving parts are what the marine atmosphere attacks.
Shipyard doors →| Property | Fabric fold-up door | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Maximum clear span | 32.0 m | TO BE CONFIRMED |
| Maximum clear height | 14.0 m | TO BE CONFIRMED |
| Headroom required above lintel | 0.9 m | TO BE CONFIRMED |
| Opening speed | 0.4 m/s | TO BE CONFIRMED |
| Wind load classification | EN 12424 up to class 5 | TO BE CONFIRMED |
| Product standard | EN 13241 | TO BE CONFIRMED |
| Thermal transmittance, insulated leaf | U = 1.4 W/m²K | TO BE CONFIRMED |
| Fabric weight | 0 000 g/m² | TO BE CONFIRMED |
| Fabric type | PVC-coated technical fabric | CONFIRMED |
| Panel pitch | 0 000 mm | TO BE CONFIRMED |
| Cycles per day, standard drive | 00 | TO BE CONFIRMED |
| Retrofit into existing structure | Yes, subject to survey | CONFIRMED |
Dotted values are placeholders awaiting the manufacturer’s technical data. The spans here are deliberately lower than the vertical lift family’s: folding a leaf costs width, and quoting otherwise would be quoting the other product.
Three-button control at the opening as standard, with remote, loop, radar or card-reader release where the traffic pattern justifies it. On a fold-up leaf the drive also holds the stack, so it is selected against the cycle count and the panel weight rather than against the span alone.
The projects below are illustrative of the type of work we do, not released references. Every span, height and class is dotted because none of them is confirmed yet — real references, named or anonymised, replace them once the client releases them.
Fold-up leaf beneath a live crane rail: 0.9 m headroom, no loss of hook height, no rail modification and no shutdown.
Request the reference sheet →
CENTRAL EUROPE
Retrofit into a hall with services committed above the lintel. Shown closed — the stack is only visible mid-travel, and that photograph is still to come.
Request the reference sheet →Drive and rollers specified against the cycle count rather than the span. No fold-up photograph of this installation exists yet, and the frames we hold show the other door family — so the slot states the request instead.
Request the reference sheet →Product is already set to fabric fold-up. Send the opening and the headroom above the lintel, and we come back with the leaf type, a drive configuration and a price — usually within three working days.
Also tendered as: vertical lifting fold-up doors, fold up doors, vertical folding doors. Same product, same classification route.
