Designed to the exact dimensions of the opening.

They look complex, but when they are designed and installed properly, the process is straightforward. The key is getting the specification right before anything is fabricated. At Royal Design Marbella, we develop the full technical detail before a single piece is cut or ordered. The installation itself typically takes one to two days for a single door. What makes it feel complicated when it goes wrong is a specification that was not thought through at the start. We do not let that happen.

We build exactly what is on the drawings. That is the whole point of what we do. We develop the fabrication detail from the specification — not the other way around. We do not have a catalogue we are trying to fit your project into. If there is a detail that raises a technical question, we raise it during the design stage, not during installation. Your architect gets what they designed.

The difference shows up in three places: how it moves, how it holds up over time, and whether it actually fits the opening it was designed for. A cheap pivot door is usually a standard-size product with a mechanism rated for the minimum load. After a year or two, it starts to settle — a 2mm gap at the top becomes 5mm, the seal fails, the door drags. A well-made pivot door has hardware specified for the actual weight of that door, fabricated to tolerances that keep the gaps consistent, and installed with fixings that account for the specific floor and ceiling conditions.

This is how many of our projects run. Many of our clients are based in the UK, Scandinavia or Central Europe and manage their Costa del Sol projects at a distance. We start with a detailed brief, confirm every element of the specification in writing before fabrication begins, and coordinate directly with whoever is managing the site — your project manager, main contractor or interior designer. You do not need to be present. You need to be confident that the person managing your project understands it.

Yes — external pivot doors are some of the most impressive applications and we install them regularly as principal entrances to villas across the Costa del Sol. In steel, the frame needs a thermal break if the building is climate-controlled. Sky-Frame aluminium systems are inherently thermally broken and designed for external performance. In both cases, the glass needs to be laminated and the hardware rated for external exposure. When these are addressed correctly at the design stage, an external pivot door performs as well as any other external door — and looks considerably better.

Proportion in a pivot door is mostly about the relationship between the door height and the ceiling height of the space it opens into. Full-height — floor to ceiling — is almost always the most resolved solution in a premium interior, because it reads as part of the architecture rather than an addition to it. Width is more variable: a single panel above about 1,100mm starts to feel unwieldy in movement, and we often recommend a narrower panel with a fixed sidelight for wider openings. We discuss proportion as part of the initial consultation.

Working with architects and interior designers is where we spend most of our time. Your designer handles the design intent and the client relationship — we handle the technical development, fabrication and installation. We work from their drawings, respond to their questions with the technical detail they need, and flag any issues during the specification stage rather than on site. We do not need you in every conversation, but we always keep you informed.

Yes — Royal Design Marbella is the exclusive distributor for Sky-Frame on the Costa del Sol. We supply and install Sky-Frame aluminium systems directly, without going through a third party. If your architect has already specified Sky-Frame, we work from that specification and manage the supply, installation and coordination with the rest of your build programme. Having the distributor as your installer removes a layer of coordination that would otherwise sit on your project manager's desk. The same applies to MHB systems.

Steel allows for very thin profiles and a raw, industrial character that aluminium cannot replicate. It is bespoke by nature — every door is fabricated to the specific brief. Aluminium systems like Sky-Frame offer a precision-engineered product with consistent tolerances, inherent thermal performance and a clean, minimal aesthetic. The choice depends on the design intent, the application — internal or external — and what the project requires. We work in both and advise based on the specific brief, not on which material is easier for us to supply.

The more specific you can be, the faster and more useful our response will be. Ideally: architectural drawings or a dimensioned sketch of the opening, the location of the project, the design intent in a sentence or two, and any specific requirements — material preference, glass type, finish, hardware. If you have photos of the space, include them. If you do not have drawings yet, a description of the project type, the approximate dimensions and what you are trying to achieve is enough to start a useful conversation. Send us what you have and we will take it from there.