- Description
- Application
- Specification
- Warranty
- Measure
Samson LouvreGuard: High-Security Ventilated Steel Doors
Precision Airflow. Uncompromised Security. Totally Bespoke.
The Samson LouvreGuard is a specialised steel doorset designed to solve one of the most common conflicts in modern building design: the need for substantial ventilation versus the need for robust physical security. Based on the proven engineering of the Metador Defender series, the LouvreGuard offers a fully customisable solution for plant rooms, substations, and industrial spaces where air circulation is critical.
Unlike standard 'off-the-shelf' vents which often represent the weakest point in a building's perimeter, the LouvreGuard is a made-to-measure engineering solution. It allows you to specify the exact size, position, and quantity of louvred panels within a high-tensile steel chassis, ensuring your facility breathes without becoming a target.
The Critical Role of Louvred Doors in UK Infrastructure
In the UK climate, where damp conditions are prevalent and industrial machinery operates in confined spaces, static ventilation is not a luxury—it is a necessity. The LouvreGuard addresses several key operational challenges:
- Temperature Regulation: Plant rooms containing boilers, generators, or server racks generate immense heat. Without constant passive airflow, equipment can overheat, leading to expensive failures and downtime. LouvreGuard allows for continuous heat dissipation without mechanical assistance.
- Fume & Gas Extraction: For chemical stores, bin stores, or areas housing backup diesel generators, preventing the build-up of toxic fumes or explosive gases is a health and safety requirement.
- Condensation Control: In unheated outbuildings and substations, lack of ventilation leads to rapid condensation build-up, causing corrosion to electrical switchgear and structural damage to the building fabric.
Bespoke Configuration & Design
The LouvreGuard is not a "one size fits all" product. It is a modular system that can be tailored to the specific airflow calculations of your mechanical engineers.
- Flexible Layouts: Choose from Full Louvre (entire door leaf), Part Louvre (top or bottom half), or specific custom panel sizes.
- Extended Openings: We can incorporate matching louvred Over Panels (transoms) and Side Panels to maximise air intake area for large machinery spaces.
- Single or Double: Available as single personnel doors or double leaf doorsets for large equipment access.
Mesh & Pest Control
Open ventilation must not invite unwanted guests. The LouvreGuard system is fitted with integrated mesh options to suit your environment:
- Insect Mesh: Nylon, aluminium, or stainless steel mesh to prevent insect ingress in hygiene-critical areas.
- Bird & Rodent Mesh: Galvanised steel mesh (6mm or 12mm) is essential for remote sites to prevent birds and vermin from nesting in warm plant rooms and damaging wiring.
Security Without Compromise
A common misconception is that a louvred door is easily breached. The Samson LouvreGuard dispels this myth. By utilising the same heavy-duty frame and leaf construction as our accredited security doors, we maintain a formidable barrier.
The louvre vanes are manufactured from high-quality steel or aluminium and are securely fixed from the internal face, making them incredibly difficult to jemmy or remove from the outside. For higher risk sites, we can offer Security Rated Louvres that have been tested to withstand determined attacks, ensuring your ventilation point doesn't become your security vulnerability.
Finishes & Durability
Aesthetics are key for modern commercial developments. The LouvreGuard is finished in a high-quality Polyester Powder Coat (PPC) to match any building façade.
- Standard Colours: A wide range of stock RAL colours for fast turnaround.
- Bespoke Colours: Match any specific corporate branding or architectural palette.
- Marine Grade: For coastal locations or corrosive industrial environments, we offer a specialised Marine Grade primer and finish to prevent salt-spray corrosion.
Typical Applications for Security Louvres
The Samson SecurGuard Louvre is the ideal solution for any facility where airflow is critical but security cannot be compromised. By replacing standard ventilation grilles with certified steel louvre doorsets, you ensure that your building's "breathing points" do not become its weak points.
Critical Infrastructure & Utilities
Facilities that power our world generate significant heat and require constant ventilation. The SecurGuard Louvre allows for substantial free airflow while maintaining a certified physical barrier against intrusion.
- Data Centres: Protecting server halls and cooling plant rooms where temperature control is vital but physical security is paramount (SR2/SR3/SR4).
- Electrical Substations: Securing transformer chambers and switchgear rooms that need natural cooling to operate safely.
- Boiler & Plant Rooms: Providing intake and exhaust air for large commercial heating systems and generators.
Commercial & Industrial
For commercial premises, louvred doorsets provide a secure and durable way to manage air quality and safety requirements without exposing the building to theft.
- Underground Car Parks: allowing exhaust fume extraction and fresh air intake while preventing unauthorized pedestrian access.
- Commercial Kitchens: Securing rear delivery and extraction points that require high-volume airflow.
- Chemical Storage: Ventilating secure stores to prevent the buildup of hazardous fumes.
- Bin Stores: Providing essential ventilation for refuse areas in residential blocks and hotels to prevent odour buildup and reduce fire risk.
Technical Specification: Samson LouvreGuard
The Samson LouvreGuard is a fully bespoke engineering solution. While the dimensions and louvre configurations are tailored to your specific airflow requirements, the core construction is based on our proven high-performance steel door chassis (SafeGuard, Defender, or XtraGuard platforms).
1. Base Construction
| Door Leaf | Manufactured from 1.2mm, 1.5mm, or 2.0mm Galvanised Steel (depending on security rating). Double-skin construction with a folded anti-jemmy flange on the leading edge to prevent forced attack. |
| Frame Profile | 90mm - 110mm deep single rebate profile (model dependent). Manufactured from high-tensile Galvanised Steel with bolted corners. Integrated silicone rubber seals bonded into the frame for weather and acoustic damping. |
| Thresholds | Standard: DDA compliant low-profile chamfered threshold (2mm Stainless Steel). Industrial Options: Raised/rebated thresholds for superior weather sealing, or extended cills. Removable: Integrated removable threshold bars for plant replacement access. |
| Finish | Polyester Powder Coated (PPC) to any standard BS or RAL colour. Marine Grade finish available for coastal/saline environments. |
2. Louvre & Ventilation Specification
| Louvre Material | Available in Steel (for durability/security) or Aluminium (for lightweight/corrosion resistance). |
| Configuration | Panel Options: Full leaf, top-half, bottom-half, or custom distinct panels. Expansion: Matching louvred over-panels (transoms) and side-panels available for maximum free air area. |
| Insect & Pest Mesh | Insect Mesh: Fine nylon, aluminium, or stainless steel mesh. Vermin Mesh: 6mm or 12mm Galvanised wire mesh (prevents birds/rodents). |
| Airflow | Free Area calculations can be provided based on the specific louvre pitch and blade profile selected. |
3. Performance & Certification
| CE Marking | Fully CE Marked; conforms to BS EN 14351-1 for external doorsets. |
| Security Ratings | Can be upgraded to LPS 1175 SR1 or SR2 standards. Note: Security rating dictates the specific louvre blade construction and maximum aperture sizes allowed. |
| Fire Rating | Limited fire integrity available using Fire Block Louvres (intumescent blocks). Note: Fire rating cannot usually be combined with high-security ratings on the same unit due to core conflicts. |
4. Hardware & Adaptability
The LouvreGuard is compatible with a wide range of hardware to suit utility and commercial applications:
- Locking: Sashlocks, deadlocks, and code locks.
- Panic Hardware: Push bars and touch bars (EN 1125 compliant) for emergency escape routes.
- Access Control: Electric strikes and magnetic locks can be integrated.
- Stays & Closers: Heavy-duty closers and friction stays to prevent wind damage.
As an authorised distributor for Metador products, Samson Doors is proud to offer the full manufacturer’s guarantee on all Defender Extreme-2 doorsets. Metador's commitment to quality is backed by a comprehensive warranty structure, detailed below.
Warranty Periods
| Door Leaf & Frame | 15 Years (Subject to correct installation and documented maintenance) |
| Marine Grade Finish | 10 Years (Subject to strict cleaning/maintenance programme in coastal environments) |
| Standard PPC Finish | 1 Year (Subject to standard cleaning programme) |
| Ironmongery / Hardware | 1 Year (Subject to correct usage and maintenance) |
Guarantee Coverage
Metador (via Samson Doors) will repair or, at their option, replace any goods sold which are shown to their reasonable satisfaction to have become defective within the warranty periods stated above.
- Defective Goods: Defined as products which, under correct usage, do not function properly due to a fault in materials, workmanship, or design.
- Component Replacement: Where a product has a specific internal defective component, only that component will be replaced, not the entire unit.
- Delivery Damage: Goods found to be defective on delivery will be replaced if reported within 3 working days of receipt. Photographic evidence showing the defective goods on the original delivery pallet is mandatory.
Exclusions
The guarantee does not cover damage or failure caused by:
- Incorrect installation or repairs carried out by unauthorised persons.
- Abuse, neglect, or lack of maintenance (including failure to keep a maintenance log).
- Use of harmful cleaning solvents or abrasive materials on the paint finish.
- External impacts, weather damage, or fair wear and tear.
- Installation of parts or hardware not advised or supplied by Metador.
- Damage to the paint finish (scratches, chips) occurring after delivery.
For any guarantee or warranty to be valid, the cleaning and maintenance regime must be documented and recorded. You must keep a log confirming the frequency of maintenance, along with the methods and products used. This documentation must be submitted for any claim to be considered.
Claims Procedure
- Notification: You must contact Samson Doors in writing within 3 working days of discovering the defect, specifying the nature of the claim and the fault.
- Inspection: On request, the defective product may need to be returned to Metador Ltd (at the customer's cost) for inspection to verify the claim.
For full details on the required care regime, please download the Operation & Maintenance Manual (PDF).
How to Measure for Your Steel Doorset
The LouvreGuard is often specificed and built with side or top transom sections to infill larger apertures with the door incorporated into the whole structure.
This would be a consultation with Samson and drawings produced for approval but for just ordering a louvre door the below still applies:
Ordering a steel doorset is straightforward, but accuracy is critical. Unlike some timber doors, steel doorsets are manufactured to exact engineering tolerances. We rely on you to provide the OVERALL manufacturing size (Door Leaf + Frame), not the opening size.
1. Understand the Manufacturing Size
When you place an order, the dimensions you give us will be the exact size of the door frame itself. We do not deduct any tolerance for you.
We recommend allowing a minimum of 10mm clearance on the width (5mm each side) and 5mm - 10mm clearance on the height (top gap).
Example Calculation:
If your structural opening measures 2300mm wide x 2100mm high, you should order a doorset size of:
Width: 2290mm (2300mm - 10mm clearance)
Height: 2090mm (2100mm - 10mm clearance)
Note: This clearance allows you to shim the frame level if your brickwork is slightly uneven. If your opening is very rough or out of square, you may wish to allow more tolerance.
2. Measuring Your Aperture
Follow these steps to ensure your opening is suitable:
- Measure Width: Take three measurements (Top, Middle, Bottom). Use the smallest of these three figures as your structural width.
- Measure Height: Take two measurements (Left and Right). Use the smallest of these two figures as your structural height.
- Check for Square: Measure the diagonals (top-left to bottom-right, and top-right to bottom-left). If these differ significantly, your opening is not square, and you may need to allow extra tolerance or pack out the frame.
3. Key Points to Remember
- Use Millimetres: Always measure and order in mm. This avoids confusion and ensures precision.
- Include the Threshold: The overall height you order includes the threshold. Be aware of your finished floor level.
- Sub-Frame Included: The dimensions cover the entire unit (leaf + outer sub-frame).
Final Check & Approval
Don't worry about making a mistake on the initial order form. For every custom steel doorset, we will always create a technical drawing for your approval before manufacturing begins. This gives you a final chance to check the exact dimensions, handing, and specification against your site measurements.
