Dorma Gulf Door Controls – subsidiary of Germany-based Dorma, a globally-active manufacturer of door technology systems and allied products – has embarked on an expansion drive that has brought its various facilities under one roof in a purpose-built facility in Dubai.

The new 5,500 sq m facility, built at a cost of Dh10 million ($2.72 million), is due to become fully operational this month (April).
“Today as construction in the region booms, Dorma continues to dominate the construction sector,” says Ben Shaw, managing director of Dorma Gulf. “The tremendous regional demand for Dorma’s superior products and world-class service has prompted our expansion project, which will consolidate all of our services from one single location. Within this new facility, we will also produce and assemble products for our Automatics, Glass and Movable Walls divisions. The new premises will also offer us much larger logistics and distribution facilities for these divisions as well as for our Door Control division. It will also include a showroom.”
Dorma Gulf’s offices and warehouse in Jebel Ali and the sales, administration and finance department at its Garhoud offices in Dubai will relocate to this new building. The services and installation team for the Automatic and Movable Walls divisions will, however, remain at the Garhoud location and continue to operate under the banner Dorma Middle East.
Dorma, which marks a decade in the region this October, is the world market leader in the door control hardware and movable wall sectors, and the regional number 1 in automatic door systems, he says.
Commenting on its position in the regional market, a company spokesperson says: “Dorma leads the way in the market when compared with other leading international manufacturers. Our strength lies in offering a complete package in both the European and American ranges under a single name. Additionally, the fact that we have an operational set-up in the region is another asset.”
The Dorma Group is subdivided structurally into five divisions: Door Control Hardware, Automatic Doors, Glass Fittings and Accessories, STA (security/time and access) and Movable Walls. It maintains major production plants in several European countries as well as in Singapore, Malaysia, China and North and South America. With an international workforce of around 6,100 employees, the Ennepetal-headquartered group operates on an international scale with 65 wholly-owned companies in 44 different countries.
The Dorma Door Control division comprises the units Door Controls, Door Furniture and locks. Its products are sold throughout the world via the architectural hardware trade and have had a decisive effect on Dorma’s international image, spokesperson points out.
The Automatic division offers a comprehensive range of swing, sliding and revolving doors and automatically-operated sliding glass panel partitions. “Dorma has gained the Number 1 spot in Europe’s automatics sector and the Number 2 position worldwide,” the spokesman asserts.”Choosing Dorma automatic opens up new perspectives for designing facades and entrances, where functionality and customised design unite,” he says.
“Dorma is well aware of the conflict between planning freedom and the limitations posed by budgets and also understands the dreams and realities associated with the project planning and equipment selection. “It is against this background that Dorma has developed its solutions for automatic door systems to meet both current and future needs. Its systems are highly practical in terms of their details and configuration, and always provide the highest level of quality and functional reliability. We offer what is possibly the largest range of automatic door systems, revolving door systems, automatic sliding partition systems, automatic sliding door operators and swing door operators, backed by the expertise and experience of a globally operating company,” he says.
“Our all-glass revolving doors provide sophisticated entrance solutions for modern building, providing comfort, high visibility and good lighting at the site. They provide protection from noise, dust and dirt and also improve work conditions, as well as reducing air-conditioning and heating costs. They can be manufactured to size and supplied with three or four panels, straight or curved – just name it and the same can be integrated to a sophisticated panic hardware system,” spokesperson adds.
The Glass division focuses on the development and manufacture of fittings and accessories for glass doors and decorative and structural glass systems. In technological terms, Dorma leads the world in glass hardware, he says.
Through its STA division, Dorma has core competencies in the segment of emergency escape security systems and can boast strong positions in access control and time data/attendance recording systems.
The Movable Walls division assimilates Dorma’s extensive know-how in relation to room dividing, partitioning and interior space configuring elements, making it the world market leader in this systems segment.
“Dorma systems can adapt to any requirement or architectural concept. Dorma door systems can be configured to satisfy any and all specification where functionality, operating sequences, visual aspect, stability and the thermal stability are needed,” he adds.
Dorma’s end-users include prominent buildings, hotels and resorts, hospitals, schools, offices, residences, airports, malls and supermarkets. Some of its landmark hotel projects in the region include the Fairmont in Dubai, the Crowne Plaza in Bahrain and La Cigale Hotel in Qatar.