Room Dividers

A room divider is a glazed screen that fills a wide opening with several hinged and folding leaves rather than a single door. It is the answer to the situation most British houses create when a wall comes down: an opening too wide for one door, but a space you still want to be able to close. There are 17 dividers here from LPD, from £498.06 to just over £1,390.

W4, W6 and W8

The code in every product name is the number of leaves. A W4 is four panels wide, a W6 is six and a W8 is eight, and that is the first decision because it has to match the structural opening. The panels fold and stack to one side, so a wider screen needs more stacking depth against the return wall. Measure the finished opening, not the plasterboard reveal, and check where the stack will sit before choosing a width. Price tracks panel count closely, so a W4 starts around £500 and a W8 runs to the top of the range.

Designs

Soho, Malvern and Greenwich are the contemporary glazed designs, and in black they read as a steel framed industrial screen, which is the look that made this product category popular. Manhattan is the white primed option and gives the same architectural grid in a brighter, softer form. Lincoln and Reims are the oak designs, Lincoln unfinished for site staining and Reims fully finished, and both suit a period house better than black does.

Finishes

Black fully finished is the largest group and needs no work on site. Fully finished oak arrives lacquered. Unfinished oak costs less and lets you match an existing stain, but every face and edge on every leaf needs sealing before installation, which on a W8 is a significant job. White primed needs filling and two topcoats. Given the number of surfaces on a multi panel screen, a factory finish is worth paying for here more than on a single door.

What a room divider actually achieves

Light and separation at the same time, which is the thing a solid door and an open archway both fail at. Folded back, the opening behaves like one large space. Closed, the glazing keeps the sightline and the daylight while giving you a temperature and noise barrier between a kitchen and a sitting room, or between a living room and a home office.

Be realistic about the acoustics. A glazed screen with multiple leaves has many more edges than a single door, and sound leaks through gaps rather than through glass. It will take the edge off television and conversation. It will not make a study quiet. If quiet is the requirement, a solid leaf from unglazed doors and acoustic wall panels inside the room will do far more.

Measuring and installation

This is not a job to guess at. The opening needs to be square, level and structurally complete, with the lintel in place and the finished floor down, because the floor level sets the bottom clearance across every leaf. A screen fitted before the floor either drags or leaves a gap. The frame carries the weight of several leaves, so fixings into solid structure matter more than they do on a single door. Our installation information covers the principles, and how to measure a door covers measurement discipline.

These units are large and heavy, so check access and delivery arrangements before ordering. See delivery.

Alternatives worth considering

A pair of doors is simpler and cheaper on an opening under about 1500mm, and french doors cover that. Bi fold doors fold in a single opening where there is no swing room. Pocket doors and sliding door kit systems remove the swing entirely and suit narrower openings. A single door with a matching side panel, from internal side panels, is the cheapest way to fill a slightly oversized opening.

Common questions

How wide an opening does a W4 suit?

Panel widths vary by design, so work from the overall dimensions on the individual product page rather than assuming. Confirm before ordering if the opening is close to a size boundary.

Which way do the panels stack?

To one side, so you need clear wall or reveal for the stack. Check both ends of the opening for radiators, switches and door swings.

Is the glass safety glass?

Glazing in and around doors is a critical location, so these screens are supplied with appropriate glass already fitted.

Can a divider be fire rated?

No. Where a rating is required the opening needs a rated doorset, from fire doors.

What ironmongery is needed?

Multi panel screens use their own hinge and pivot arrangements, so check what is supplied with the specific unit before adding anything from door hardware. The wider door range is at internal doors.