Nice inside, shame about the outside? The “Design + Security” hardware range produced since the 1990s by eastern Westphalian handle makers FSB ensures that - notwithstanding the Security Class selected - good design does not need to stop at the front door.

Now the Brakel firm is supplementing its range with two unusual items of S4 security hardware that add an electronic component to the set of modules.

With its new security hardware models 7360 and 7361, FSB is again subjecting its proven security technology to a wholly new design concept: adopting a radically puristic approach to design, FSB’s in-house designer Hartmut Weise has used stainless steel 5 mm thick to create a matter-of-fact sculpture of folded surfaces that has nothing at all in common with received formal concepts and does nothing to accommodate its intended door. Separating FSB 7361 from its analogue counterpart FSB 7360 are its electronics: as well as being formally extravagant, the security hardware is also endowed with innovative functional features such as a door-bell sensor plus nameplate integrated into the actual handle along with a radio-operated door-bell module and radio gong on the inside.

True to the holistic mindset informing the “Design + Security” range, the two new security fittings are designed as entrance door sets and are supplied with formally matching angular backplates and FSB lever handle model 1108 for the inside. One striking point about the electronics package is that it operates without cabling, making the hardware as a whole a prime candidate for retrofit jobs.

The door-bell sensor plus LED transmission control built into the outer handle form a single battery-operated unit with the radio door-bell module fitted in the inside baseplate. A transmission range of 200 metres makes for flexible positioning of the attendant door-bell gong.

There’s more to be found on FSB’s new security fittings at www.fsb.de/novelties.