Roller shutter doors have certainly come a long way. Today, they come in a variety of colours and, at the press of a button, you can make one open or close.
Connect one to a fire alarm system, and it will close automatically in the event of a fire - a feature that has its own fascinating technical history.
They are something you will find pretty much anywhere, in both commercial and domestic settings.
And yet, you have probably never once thought about their history. Until now.
For roller shutter doors as we know them today, you do not have to go too far back in time. But for the world's first automatic door, that is a very different story.
Heron (also called Hero) of Alexandria was a Greek-Egyptian mathematician, engineer and inventor living and working in Roman Egypt in the 1st century AD (c. 10 to 70 CE).
A man of exceptional talents, his inventions included a coin-operated 'holy water dispenser', a water organ and even a fire engine. But it was his automatic temple door opener that truly amazed those who saw it.
Invention number 37, as he described it in his writings, was powered by a fire altar and a hydraulic system.
With a fire lit in front of the temple doors, a chamber hidden beneath contained pipes that heated up. This heat built up pressure in a sealed vessel filled with water.
As pressure gradually increased, water began flowing into a second vessel. This second vessel had a series of ropes, weights and pulleys connected to the temple's two door posts. Once the water made it heavy enough, the mechanism would open the doors as if by magic. When the fire died down, the water flowed back, and a counterweight closed the doors again.
It is, in essence, the ancestor of every fire-triggered automatic closure in use today - though the technology has advanced somewhat since the first century.
For millennia, people have found ways to keep out the cold and wet while keeping in the warmth.
Animal hides were the first materials used to cover doorways and other openings. Strong and hard-wearing, they offered enough flexibility to pull aside - and quite possibly rolled up and tied, making them a distant forerunner to the roller shutter idea.
The first use of a wooden shutter in Britain was probably in the Medieval period. Made from solid wood planks and reinforced with an iron bar, these window shutters provided some protection against intruders and the weather.
It was from the late 1500s and early 1600s that glass became more widely used in Britain, though it remained expensive and its adoption was gradual. Wooden shutters remained a popular option for many people well into the 18th century.
Although called a shutter, they were yet to resemble today's modern roller shutter. For that, we need to fast-forward to the late 19th century and the small Swiss town of Aadorf.
In 1882, Anton Griesser - a young, self-employed craftsman - purchased a mill construction workshop in Aadorf, Switzerland, and began making roller shutters by hand with his wife, Marie Meier. His design featured individual wooden slats linked together for easier rolling and deployment, closely resembling the modern roller shutter. According to the Griesser Group's own company history, "the roller shutters, which were almost unknown at the beginning, found more and more markets, not only in Switzerland."
The design proved popular and was soon seen in homes and businesses across Switzerland and beyond. Griesser's company grew into one of Europe's leading shading and shutter manufacturers - and is still trading today.
Steel had been around for thousands of years, but in 1856 the English engineer Sir Henry Bessemer changed the way it was made. His Bessemer process - first described to the British Association in Cheltenham on 24 August 1856 - forced air through molten pig iron to remove impurities, making large-scale, low-cost steel production possible for the first time. The process transformed industries from railways to construction and made steel roller shutters far more practical to manufacture at scale.
Aluminium, however, was a relatively new metal. Danish physicist Hans Christian Ørsted produced the first sample in 1824 and publicly demonstrated it in 1825 - though for many years the credit went to German chemist Friedrich Wöhler, who repeated the experiment independently in 1827. By the mid-1850s, French chemist Henri Étienne Sainte-Claire Deville had developed the first industrial production method, making aluminium commercially available for the first time - though it remained so expensive that its price exceeded that of gold.
That changed towards the end of the 19th century. In 1886, Charles Martin Hall in the United States and Paul Héroult in France independently discovered the same electrolytic process for producing aluminium cheaply and in large quantities (now known as the Hall-Héroult process). Around the same time, Austrian chemist Karl Josef Bayer patented an improved method for producing the alumina feedstock needed (the Bayer process, patented 1887). Both processes are still used today and together made aluminium the affordable, lightweight material we now associate with modern roller shutters.
These developments in both steel and aluminium production meant roller shutters were now easier - and cheaper - to make at scale.
In 1921, American inventor C. G. Johnson developed the overhead door - a mechanism that lifts up and out of the way rather than sliding to one side. By 1926 he had refined the design and introduced an electric push-button opener. This up-and-over principle was quickly adapted for roller shutters, making them significantly easier to operate.
In the coming decades, there were further innovations for roller shutter fixings, guides and components. Motorised versions became available to commercial customers from the mid-20th century, though they remained expensive until the 1980s.
Although there was a steady demand across the world for roller shutters, that demand increased dramatically in the 1970s.
Many factories and warehouses still found themselves using large, draughty old wooden sliding and revolving doors to move goods and equipment through. But the 1970s was a decade gripped by a worldwide energy crisis that brought with it soaring energy costs.
With heat and money being rapidly lost through poorly insulated wooden doors, business owners realised it was time to find a more modern and better insulated alternative. This rapid demand led to a boom in roller shutter manufacturers across the globe.
It took many centuries of slow, patient progress to arrive at Anton Griesser's wooden shutter design of 1882. But once it did, Griesser's design changed everything and set the course for how roller shutter doors would look today. Although still mostly made of steel or aluminium, polycarbonate is one newer material now also used in commercial and domestic settings.
As for the future, creating new composite materials will continue. Helping make shutters stronger, lighter and better insulated. There are already roller shutters with solar panels fitted, enabling them to operate from the electricity they generate.
Connectivity has transformed the industry. Electronic timers and sensors have been available for many years, but roller shutters can now be operated from a smartphone and integrated into smart home and building management systems - including Amazon Alexa, Google Home and Apple HomeKit.
For areas where high security is required, fingerprint, facial recognition and iris scanners can also form part of a roller shutter's control and access system.
Although the materials used in construction have evolved considerably, the principal design remains much the same as it did 140 years ago. That same fundamental functionality - combined with new materials, components and controls - is what gives the roller shutter its assured future.
One of the most significant developments in roller shutter technology over the past century has been the integration of fire safety performance. Modern fire roller shutters do far more than secure a building - they form part of a building's fire compartmentation strategy, designed to slow the spread of fire and smoke and protect evacuation routes.
Since 1 November 2019, fire roller shutters placed on the GB market must comply with BS EN 16034:2014, the harmonised European standard for fire-resisting roller shutters and operable fabric curtains. Products must be tested to BS EN 1634-1 and carry CE or UKCA marking - the legal compliance mark confirming third-party testing. The older BS 476-22 test standard is no longer valid for new installations.
Fire roller shutters are available with fire resistance ratings from 60 minutes (E 60) up to 240 minutes (EI 240), depending on the compartmentation requirement of the building. They are activated by the building's fire alarm system via a solenoid release or by a fusible link - a mechanical backup that operates independently of electrical power.
For properties where a steel shutter would be impractical - atriums, open-plan offices and large public buildings - fire curtains made from fire-resistant woven glass fibre fabric offer an equally effective, less visually intrusive alternative.
Blake Fire & Security Systems installs and maintains both fire roller shutters and fire curtains across Essex and London. As a DHF member and BAFE Registered Organisation, Blake's ensures every installation meets current certification requirements and is connected correctly to the building's fire alarm system - a step that must be carried out by a qualified fire alarm engineer. Find out more about Blake's fire roller shutter and fire curtain service.
The fire roller shutter industry is still evolving - and not just in its products. In March 2025, the Door & Hardware Federation (DHF) launched a new Level 3 Award in Compliance & Safety of Fire Resisting Roller Shutter Doors - a full-day, Ofqual-regulated training course mapped to the National Occupational Standards for installation, maintenance and repair of fire roller shutter doors.
Alongside it, DHF published TS 013-4:2025, a new code of practice specifically covering fire-resisting roller shutter door compliance and safety.
Patricia Sowsbery-Stevens, DHF Commercial Director, said of the new qualification: "This not only enhances its credibility but also makes it a robust choice for industry professionals."
The launch reflects growing recognition across the industry that fire roller shutters - increasingly specified in commercial, industrial and higher-risk residential buildings - require a distinct, specialist level of competence, separate from standard roller shutter installation and maintenance. It is a reminder that the history of the roller shutter is still being written.
The modern roller shutter is generally credited to Anton Griesser, a Swiss craftsman who in 1882 opened a workshop in Aadorf, Switzerland, and began hand-making wooden roller shutters. His design - individual wooden slats linked together to roll up and deploy - closely resembles the roller shutters we see today. Griesser's company still exists and is now one of Europe's leading manufacturers of window and facade shading products.
Anton Griesser's original 1882 design used individual wooden slats. As steel and aluminium production industrialised during the late 19th and early 20th centuries, manufacturers switched to metal - primarily steel - which offered far greater strength, durability and fire resistance. Today, roller shutters are made from steel, aluminium or polycarbonate depending on the application.
Roller shutters began appearing on UK commercial premises from the late 19th century, but their widespread adoption accelerated after the Second World War as businesses secured bomb-damaged premises and rebuilt commercial high streets. Demand surged again in the 1970s in response to the global energy crisis, when the insulation benefits of steel shutters over draughty wooden warehouse doors became a compelling economic argument for business owners. Motorised versions became affordable for smaller commercial premises during the 1980s.
A fire roller shutter is held in the open position during normal building operation. When the building's fire alarm system activates, it sends a signal to a solenoid release on the shutter's motor, allowing the steel curtain to descend under its own weight at a controlled rate. Many fire shutters also incorporate a fusible link - a mechanical device containing a soldered metal link that melts at approximately 67 to 72°C - providing a fail-safe backup that operates even if electrical power is lost. Fire roller shutters must be tested to BS EN 1634-1 and comply with BS EN 16034:2014 for CE or UKCA marking. They also require professional servicing every six months.
No, though they serve the same core purpose - protecting openings in fire compartment walls to slow the spread of fire and smoke. Fire roller shutters use interlocking steel laths and provide both fire compartmentation and physical security. Fire curtains use fire-resistant woven glass fibre fabric, making them lighter, more compact and less visually intrusive - they are commonly specified in atriums, open-plan offices and heritage buildings where the appearance of steel shutters would be undesirable. Both products must comply with BS EN 16034:2014 and be tested to BS EN 1634-1.
Whether planning permission is required depends on where the shutter is installed and the nature of the premises. In many cases, fitting a roller shutter to a commercial property in England is considered permitted development. However, listed buildings, properties within conservation areas and some commercial premises in defined town centre zones may require planning consent. You should check with your local planning authority before installation. A qualified supplier will be able to advise based on your specific location and building type.
If you are based in Essex or London and need roller shutter supply, installation or maintenance - including fire-rated options - get in touch with Blake Fire & Security Systems for expert advice and a no-obligation survey.
This article is provided for general information and educational purposes only. It is not legal advice, a fire risk assessment, a compliance audit, a technical specification or a substitute for advice based on inspection of your premises. You should not rely on it as the basis for taking action, delaying action or deciding not to act. Your legal duties, fire safety arrangements and system requirements depend on your specific premises, use, occupancy, risk profile and the findings of a suitable and sufficient fire risk assessment.
Fire safety and security legislation, standards, guidance and enforcement practice can change. Blake Fire & Security Systems makes no representations or guarantees, express or implied, that content on this site is accurate, complete or current. For practical advice about fire roller shutters, fire curtains, fire alarm systems or system maintenance requirements for your premises, call Blake's on 01702 447800. For legal advice, fire risk assessment advice or confirmation of your statutory duties, speak to an appropriately qualified legal adviser, competent fire risk assessor or competent fire safety professional.
