Doing a double take
In 1919, an entrepreneur named Henry Sonnenberg founded a machine tool distribution and manufacturing company in Dusseldorf, Germany. In 1933, just as Hitler came to power, Sonnenberg made the bold move of relocating his business abroad. Transporting his entire stock of machinery in 150 railroad cars to an abandoned shipyard in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, Sonnenberg re-established his machine tool company outside Nazi Germany. In 1940, to further expansion, the enterprising businessman once again moved his operations.
This time, his new base was the US, where he founded the Douglas Machinery Company. Six years later, he went into a joint venture with Joe Hunter and invented the first 50mm-thick Venetian blinds from aluminium slats. Hunter Douglas, the multinational company famed for its upmarket window treatments as we know it, was born.
Today, Hunter Douglas doesn’t just supply Venetian blinds to private homeowners. Its range of innovative blinds and architectural treatments can be found complementing commercial projects all over the world. For instance, Dubai’s Burj Khalifa, the world’s tallest manmade structure, is fitted with the company’s motorised blinds and MDF made-to-measure ceiling systems.
The secret of Hunter Douglas’s success lies in its history of innovation and commitment to R&D. In 1985, in response to the US energy crisis, the company launched its line of Duette Honeycomb Shades. With a unique honeycomb construction, these shades are highly energy-efficient. The built-in insulating layers reduce thermal heat gain in summer and heat loss in winter, while serving as a sound buffer. Not content to rest on their laurels, the designers at Hunter Douglas improved on the honeycomb concept to enlarge the Duette range with the Architella in 2006 and the Architella Trielle in 2012. With six layers of fabric creating five pockets of insulation, the latter offers the industry’s highest level of energy efficiency to date.
Noted for their beauty, Hunter Douglas products also distinguish themselves from their competitors with their ease of use and safety features. Other than a retractable cord system, which eliminates unsightly dangling cords, its LiteRise cordless system allows users to raise and lower the shade by hand, thus enhancing child safety. For the ultimate control, the Platinum Technology Motorization allows blinds to be adjusted precisely via remote controls.
With major operational centres established in Europe, North America, Asia, Latin America and Australia, the 96-year-old company remains the market leader in window blinds and coverings. Thanks to Hunter Douglas, sunlight has never looked so good.
