Kuringen Belgium

Decathlon chooses aesthetic safety doors of Merford

In 2016, the retail park in Kuringen, Belgium, was renovated and expanded. The infrastructure was completely renewed and the park was expanded with a new Decathlon store. The new Decathlon building is completely built on piles to create space for parking. Merford Special Doors supplied industrial doors for the exterior facade of the building, in which a combination of burglar resistance, escape function and aesthetics were important.

Decathlon is one of the world's largest retail chains of sporting goods. The company started in 1976 with a store in France and has grown into a global chain with 1095 stores in 30 countries. Every month they are opening new stores, like the one in Kuringen, Hasselt recently.

Burglary and escape function

In order to protect its properties against burglary, Decathlon requires a high level of burglar resistance on the various entrance doors. This also applies to the escape doors. An escape door with an anti-panic function must be easy to open from the inside in the event of a calamity, but because of burglary protection it must be difficult to open from the outside. This special combination may sound contradictory, but Merford has been specialising for many years in combining these properties in one door.

High level of finishing

For Decathlon Kuringen, Merford supplied and installed burglar-proof steel doors at shop level, at the loading docks and the technical areas. The doors of the technical areas at the parking level are also fitted with ventilation louvres with plug-in protection and burglar resistance class WK3. The doors also meet these requirements. The doors are both technically and aesthetically fully custom made, in accordance with the customer's wishes. For example, the doors are provided with a high-quality topcoat (class C3) with alternating glazing and door closers with sliding arms and lacquered finishes. The high level of finishing ensures that the doors fit in well with the shop and facade image, both inside and outside. The project in Kuringen led Decathlon to decide to use Merford doors more often in its stores.