2.3. The Door
The shop door is very important in drawing customers into the shop and needs to be both practical and clearly readable as the entrance to the shop. Shopfront doors will usually be glazed to increase visibility into the shop. Doors can include panelling and decorative door furniture in the form of door handles, escutcheons, kick plates, push plates and letter slots.
Rails and stiles
Regardless of the material used to make the door, the construction will consist of a bottom rail, top rail, stiles on the sides and an optional horizontal lock rail positioned at about a third of the height of the door. Lock rails will only be needed if the door is to have panelling incorporated on the lower half.
Fanlight
A fanlight is the window that is sometimes present above a shopfront door if the height of the shopfront permits. Fanlights present a design opportunity where elements such as glazing bars can be incorporated.
Spandrels used in the top corners of a door’s glazing, Newport / Labelled diagram of a door
