Specialty Doors has embraced innovation, sustainable practices, and craftsmanship to manufacture doors in traditional, commercial and acoustic markets.
After 30 years of producing joinery and flush doors, Specialty Doors has expanded into new markets under the leadership of director, Marcus Bastiaan. Acquiring the company over four years ago, Bastiaan navigated early challenges to transform a struggling product into a profitable one.
“In the first year, branching out was difficult in the static marketplace,” he said.
Despite challenges, Bastiaan was determined to find “the sweet spot in Australian manufacturing”. This led Bastiaan to discover the value in producing custom door products that are quality, scalable and priced in the mid to high value.
“We have found our niche in the custom, hard-to-find and hard-to-make doors,” he said.
“These include entry doors, custom joinery and oversized doors as well as commercial products like fire doors, acoustic doors and lead line doors.”
Approximately 60 per cent of these doors go to reseller markets like hardware and trade yards, with 40 per cent supplied to top tier construction companies for a mix of government and private projects.
Specialty Doors has also broken into the luxury door market with its own flush panel doors, batten entry doors and oversized pivot doors.
“These are your grand entrance pieces on luxury build projects,” said Bastiaan.
Bastiaan said this market – that has grown due to a change in home builder and architect preferences – is currently one of the most profitable and interesting for the company.
“In Australia, they want something unique, breathtaking and spectacular. There are interesting residential and commercial design projects we’re getting involved in,” said Bastiaan.
After identifying a viable product range, the company has grown its production output around 1,000 doors per week, increased its presence in Victoria and even expanded into Queensland, with a team of more than 50 in total.
“Queensland’s a very interesting market and it’s grown. We went up at the start of this year and have had a lot of demand for our specialised doors,” said Bastiaan.
A quality product aimed at a thriving market
Aside from a key target market, the quality and affordability of Specialty Doors’ products have been drivers in its growth, especially within its luxury door offering.
“We like to focus on providing a high-quality product that’s worth investing in. It’s the statement to your home, so it’s an investment well made.”
To uphold this quality, Specialty Doors implements quality control measures that begin well before production and continue throughout manufacturing.
“We have long running relationships with certified suppliers and we scrutinise how products are made, pressed, cut, finished and dispatched,” said Bastiaan.
This value on quality extends to the company’s implementation of Australian timber into its products.
“We use Australian hardwoods across our product range including Tasmanian Oak, Blackbutt and Spotted Gum. However, the Victorian Government’s move to ban the supply of Victorian Ash has meant we need to increase the amount of imported hardwood from 20 per cent of our overall use to 80 per cent,” said Bastiaan.
Bastiaan hopes to one day return Specialty Doors’ use of Australian timber to 80 per cent of products as a part of a nationwide push to celebrate its sovereign timber.
“What we have in this country is unique, beautiful and entirely our own,” said Bastiaan.
In addition to maintaining product quality and sovereignty, Specialty Doors implements sustainability initiatives across processes and materials sourcing. Bastiaan said while a renewed effort around green star rating and responsible sourcing of materials is positive, the company sees the most within its new componentry product offering.
The offering makes use of excess material to reduce the timber going to landfill.
“We use excess timber to create door handles and profile pieces,” said Bastiaan.
“We’d like to change the conversation around hardwood through the door handles, which even for the most environmentally conscious person, is a guilt-free indulgence.”
Growing a broad product range
The success of Specialty Doors has seen Bastiaan spin off into two additional businesses that target alternative niche markets.
“Specialty Doors is the main show, and then we have two auxiliary businesses that supply our customers with a suite of products,” said Bastiaan.
One of these companies – Specialty Commercial – is a timber extrusions company that produces mouldings, lining, boards and custom timber componentry. The company is the primary beneficiary of the Specialty Doors’ sustainability initiatives that help it save 95 per cent of both energy and timber.
“The new range of handles and hardware that we’re going to be releasing to the market in this
year is exciting,” he said.
The second spin off from Specialty Doors is Specialty Acoustics, a company that produces acoustic products for commercial and residential construction projects.
“This brand is a specialised, technical, scientific, and data-driven approach to acoustics, performance and installation,” said Bastiaan.
Specialty Acoustics manufactures its products to qualified standards and – in collaboration with Acoustic Doors Australia – offers installation services for commercial projects.
Going forward, Bastiaan expects, what is now referred to as The Specialty Group, to further grow into new areas and markets. This growth includes introducing new products into the NSW and South Australian markets.