Restaurants have a unique set of ventilation ducting requirements that all have significant impact on the user experience. Selecting a solution with good acoustic values, hygienic properties and aesthetics is essential to meet both the design scheme and create optimum occupant comfort.

Maximising occupant comfort is key to success in the restaurant business – in addition to great food of course. Comfortable patrons means repeat business. The company is good, the food is delicious and perhaps there's even a glass of wine; smiles, laughter and enjoyable conversation all around. It sounds cozy – and with the right ventilation ducting it certainly also can be.

The specific requirements include comfort elements such as an even draft-free air distribution, sound absorption and reverberation as well as aesthetics. In addition, hygienic elements such as condensation-free, dirt repellant and washable are essential, and enabling easy maintenance as well as fulfilling cost-efficiency considerations is ideal. Fabric ducting is the only alternative that allows all these different measures to be satisfied.

Restaurants, diners, cafes and similar applications all struggle with sound generation as well as reverberation. A bad acoustic environment makes it less of a pleasant experience; hence, the sound absorption properties of the room is an important design consideration. Reducing reverberation time is important for speech intelligibility and conversational privacy, and also helps reduce the overall noise levels.

Fabric-based ventilation ducting offers a LowNoise™ technology, which enables noise levels as low as NC15 or less. The precise air dispersion creates a high air change at low velocity, which makes the solution draft-free and virtually silent. This coupled with the acoustic absorption capabilities of the fabric and the unlimited design possibilities makes the technology preferred among hospitality designers.

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"We recommend FabricAir Dispersion systems because of the efficiency and because it offers unique design opportunities. There are no hot spots and cold spots, there is no condensation dripping like with metal ducts, and it comes in a swoon of colours," said PJ Zakas of Z-Space Design, a cutting-edge US Hospitality Design company. "Things do get dirty, especially in restaurants, so we love to explain to our clients that you can easily unzip that bad boy, take it home, put it in your wash, dry it and throw it back up – you can't do that with metal!"

Z-Space Design are the architects behind the recently opened, South Carolina-based Jî-Rôz - an upscale Greek restaurant. They used tan beige FabricAir ducts as a design feature that accents the overall design theme of the exclusive restaurant space.  

The fabric air dispersion technology is also the more hygienic alternative. Permeable fabrics create an air blanket around the entire length and circumference of the duct. This prevents condensation and hinders dust and other particles from settling on top of the ducts. The anti-microbial nature of the ducting thwarts bacteria growth.

Micro-perforations can make the ducting virtually maintenance-free and should it happen that the ductwork gets dirty, it's easy to slide the ducting off the suspension, wash it in in a regular washing machine and hang it back up.

In Zaragoza, Spain, El Cachirulo Group, who owns a number of exclusive restaurants, has applied FabricAir Dispersion Systems in several locations. Sansui is a popular event and convention venue with great historical tradition. When the salon was upgraded, fabric-based air dispersion was used to ensure a fusion of optimum comfort and aesthetic looks. When another of their high-end venues, the Palacio de Larrinaga, underwent refurbishments, space saving was essential to the project, in addition to creating a draft-free, noiseless air dispersion for maximum comfort.

"Our customers are quality conscious; we must minimise the air currents and the sound level, always maintaining the right temperature. Last year we installed FabricAir solutions in other facilities within our group and they work very well. In this space, we wanted to integrate elegant design and optimum comfort. In the summer months, temperatures are high in Zaragoza and the air conditioning has worked well - we have not had any complaints," said Technical Manager of Maintenance, Luis Catalan, Grupo El Cachirulo.

In İzmir, Turkey, a corrosion-free, lightweight and stylish solution was needed in a dining and concert venue, the Izmir Arena, located close to the sea. It was essential to minimise the strain on the existing roof structure, as well as to prevent negative impacts on the acoustics of the room.

"FabricAir designed the perfect flow models for our place. Since we started using our air distribution system, we have had no problems. We feel that the FabricAir products increase the air comfort of the place, and blend beautifully into the structure," added Hasan KARABİN, Chief Mechanic of İzmir Arena.

To learn more about fabric air dispersion technology, please visit www.fabricair.com.