There’s no energy “wastin’ away” at Jimmy Buffett’s Margaritaville Café restaurant even though dozens of linear feet of retractable wall space and other doorways are invitingly open to the great Arizona outdoors.
How do restaurants keep retractable walls open without wasting energy?
Jimmy Buffett’s Margaritaville Cafe in Glendale, Arizona was designed to feel like an oceanfront tiki hut. The two-story, 17,500-square-foot restaurant has about 2,600 square feet of adjoining patio and nine doorways, each eight feet tall and 8 to 15 feet wide, that open to the outdoors.
Maricopa County codes required a screen or barrier to keep flying insects out of open doorways, and county officials suggested air curtains. Berner supplied 15 air curtains, with two or three units working in tandem over the widest openings. Magnetic door switches turn them on, and finishes in stainless steel or clear anodized aluminum match the door frames. A three-speed fan switch lets managers adjust for door height and wind.
Meeting the sanitation code also meant the restaurant could use the same branded glassware and tableware as its other company-owned locations. And by keeping indoor and outdoor air separate, the air curtains save thousands of dollars in energy each year, in line with the company’s green goals.
Read how Margaritaville kept its open-air design without wasting energy. Read the full case study in the PDF below.
