Take a leisurely walk through the streets of Paris, Brussels, Bruges, Munich or Amsterdam and you will see the same thing over and over again, the locals and the tourists, mainly British ones, sitting outside under awnings enjoying their coffee, their beer, their croissant, their Danish pastries, their frankfurters and their pistolets (The Belgians, strange folk). But what’s this, “The wind’s blowing a gale and it’s raining cats and dogs” you exclaim, “should not this weather, curse of the British blind-maker cause our continental comrades to hear those all too familiar words ‘Rain has stopped play!’ and send them dashing for cover.” Well of course not, this is mainland Europe! Our European counterparts despite all their flaws have come up with the perfect solution to windy inclement weather, the awning! “Shock horror!” I hear you exclaim “you can’t use awnings in the wind and rain they’re sun protection products, right?” Right! Most of them are and it’s a wise blind-maker that encourages his customer to safely close his awning away in heavy rain or high winds. But look again down those streets of Paris, Brussels or Bruges these awnings that are quite happy in the wind and rain are no ordinary run of the mill awnings, they’ve got legs and project up to 6 metres, roof rollers to support the fabric, fancy integral gutter and drain pipe systems, plus loads of other bits and accessories to help keep diners happy, dry, warm, and blissfully eating and drinking in all kinds of weather. “What is it?” you curiously ask, “it’s a self-supported, extruded aluminium, spring tensioned, fully waterproof terrace cover,” comes the reply from a proud café owner. This type of product such as the Winsol Patiola has truly revolutionised outside dining right across Europe. In the lucky south they need large areas covered to protect diners from the heat of the mid day sun. In the north outside diners need protecting against wet and windy weather conditions much the same as our own. Whatever the reason though it is the perfect answer to keep diners on seats in any bistro, restaurant, café, coffee or tea bar and, dare I say it, even the Traditional English Pub, in fact any establishment that has an outside dining area should have one. “They won’t catch on in the UK though” I hear the eternal pessimist say. Try saying that to the pub owner in the south west who has more then doubled his all year round seating area along with greatly increasing his profit, or the Manchester based Tea Bar whose covered roof terrace is now so popular diners pay an extra £15 a head just to sit under their two gleaming Patiola’s.
In fact the more than 40 units that have been installed from Scotland to Lands End are now bringing in hundreds of extra people every day into the bars, clubs and restaurants whose owners have seen the wisdom in providing outside diners with the luxury of retractable wind, rain and sun protection. So next time you get that call from a sobbing local bar or restaurant owner asking for the answer to the British weather, don’t bury your head in your hands and exclaim “you can’t use awnings in the wind and rain” pick up the phone and call someone like Winsol. Its changing the way we all have to think about awnings.
In the domestic environment the Patiola is perfect for large patios or just a good, useable area right outside the patio doors to extend the use of the adjoining room. Indded with optional lighting and heating systems it can make a truly functional all year round outdoor/indoor area.
Samson Awnings are distributors and installers of all Winsol products and specialise in the Patiola system for domestic or commercial use.
Patiola - 'The Room Outdoors' |
