Front door with side panel on the left, made to measure

The side panel is fixed, not a second door: it doesn't open, it only lets light in. The door stays the same 1,000 mm wide as in the front door layout — so you gain light without the door becoming heavier or wider to open and close.

The standard size is 1,450 × 2,100 mm: the door plus a narrower side panel beside it. Which side the panel goes on usually depends on how you approach the door, or on where the wall has more room. If you want light on both sides, the front door with side panels on both sides is the wider option; if you would rather have no side panel, the front door on its own is the narrower one.

In the standard size the side panel is 450 mm wide against the 1,000 mm of the door — narrow enough not to look like a second pane, wide enough to let real light through. In a hall with no other daylight that makes a difference: a solid front door leaves the hall dark until you open it, a side panel lets light in all day.

The left usually makes sense when you come into the hall from that side, or when the wall has more room on that side than on the right — next to a garage or a store that takes up the other side, for example. If you are unsure which side, look at the layout of the hall: the side panel works best where light can fall in unobstructed, not against a cupboard or an internal wall.

For this layout, measure the full width of door plus side panel in one go; the configurator splits it in the standard proportion, or you set a different split yourself. When fitting, also watch the threshold height and the floor finish, just as with a single door — the side panel itself needs no threshold, only the door does.

In principle you choose colour and finish for the door and the side panel separately, though most people have them in the same colour for a calm look. The glass in the side panel is a separate choice: from fully clear to obscure or patterned glass, depending on how much privacy you want against how much light. The side panel itself needs very little maintenance because it carries no hardware; the attention stays with the door, where the lock is in use every day.

In a renovation, people often choose this layout to bring daylight into a dark hall, which usually means widening the existing door opening in the wall — something to discuss with your builder beforehand. In a new build, the side the panel goes on is usually decided in the design by the path from the street or the drive to the front door.

For security, the fixed side panel isn't a target for the lock — the point to watch remains the door, with its multi-point lock and hinges. The glass in the side panel does deserve a look, though: laminated glass offers more resistance there than ordinary double glazing if the door is on the ground floor.

The side panel carries no hardware load; only the door leaf does. The configurator checks whether the hardware of the door design you choose suits the size you enter.

Still not sure? Use the comparison with the other layouts in this group, above, to see which arrangement suits your situation best.