COMPANY: Berner International, New Castle, Pa.

INSTALLATION: Zephyr Model air curtain with Intelliswitch™.

COMPLETION: Completed

CUSTOMER: The Café at the Frick, Pittsburgh

OBJECTIVE: Maintain customer comfort in spite of the front door being opened often and allowing cold air into the restaurant.

DESCRIPTION: Patrons at The Café at the Frick were often found wearing winter coats as they endeavored to enjoy a fine dining experience. This dining spot is a 500-square-foot converted coach house with a tightly fitting front door to negate drafts.

Large crowds, however, regularly stretch into long waiting lines that typically hold open the door. Due to cost and the historical nature of the building, remodeling the entrance structure was not a viable option.

Instead, the restaurant had a Berner International Zephyr Model air curtain, along with the company’s digital control technology, the Intelliswitch™, installed.

The air curtain provides a downward airstream that’s directed outside and away from diners at a 15-degree angle. The establishment also carefully considered the ambient noise.

“The most important consideration is noise. The multiple fan speeds give us the flexibility to operate the air curtain at a slower fan speed that is very quiet.”
- John Wolfendale, Frick’s buildings supervisor

Publication date: 12/10/2007