Alo is a contemporary French restaurant and cocktail bar located atop a heritage building in downtown Toronto. Just downstairs is Alo’s sister restaurant, Aloette, a chic diner that serves comfort dishes and French staples.
In 2015, Alo was recognized by industry experts as the best restaurant in Canada.
There are 4 large windows in Alo and 4 large windows in Aloette, all sporting heavy roller shades.
But why motorize them?
The Problem
Customers of Alo and Aloette are seated by the large windows and would encounter an intense amount of sunlight. Waiting staff would find it difficult to reach over the guests to adjust the shades and to provide better comfort. However, this would disrupt their meal and guests began asking if they could just do it themselves.
This led the restaurant owner, Patrick Kriss, to look for a solution that allowed guests to easily and conveniently adjust the window shades without compromising the elegant look and feel of the restaurants.
The Solution
Patrick discovered AXIS after a recommendation came through a co-working space that the AXIS team to used to work out of, Project Spaces.
AXIS Gear was the perfect solution for Alo and Aloette, as it allowed them to:
- Motorize the window shades they already own.
- Keep the elegant look and feel of the restaurant by keeping the window shades they originally picked out and from Gear’s polished design.
- Schedule the window shades for privacy, energy-savings, and guest comfort.
- Let guests adjust the window shades themselves with just a tap.
The Outcome
Alo and Aloette now have smart blinds instead of ordinary blinds. The wait staff can control and adjust the window shades without reaching over guests and distracting their meals. And if they want to, guests can even adjust the window shades themselves with a tap.
Patrick was surprised at how nice the cable management turned out and how “clean” the overall product and installation was. The award-winning restaurant now had award-winning motorized shades!
The Installation
On May 28th, 2 installers visited Aloette and installed 4 AXIS Gear onto 4 windows.
On May 30th, 2 installers visited Alo and installed 4 AXIS Gear onto 4 windows.
A special request was made to make cable management as discreet as possible. So, AXIS sourced black tubing to hide any wires or cables, resulting in an extremely sleek and clean installation.
