Noon on the beach: the restaurant’s awnings followed the sun.
The sun climbs, the terrace fills up. Before the first guest even looks for shade, the restaurant’s awnings have rolled out, just as far as needed. The team never had to leave the floor.
Photo: Luise and Nic / Unsplash
Picture it: 11:45 am, on the terrace
A restaurant with its feet in the sand. The tables are set, the catch of the day is on the board, the first guests are coming up from the beach. The midday sun beats down on the terrace.
It used to mean a waiter putting down a tray to roll out the awnings one by one, then coming back an hour later to adjust them once the sun had moved. Today, the terrace takes care of itself.
The concept: awnings that read the sky
Nice controls awnings, blinds and shutters according to outdoor conditions: sunlight intensity, temperature, time of day.
Nice’s BiDi-Awning interface connects to awnings that are already motorized and links them to the Yubii world, which brings Nice and FIBARO together. When a sensor detects that the sun has passed the chosen threshold, the awning opens. Domì sensors go further: they watch the sun, the wind and even the rain, and retract the awnings when the wind picks up.
For Nice, outdoor blinds turn outdoor spaces into true living spaces. And the Yubii world is designed for homes as well as small professional spaces: offices, shops, clinics, and restaurants.
What it changes for the restaurant
The team stays with the guests. Nobody has to run and roll out awnings between orders. Waiters stay with the guests, where they matter.
Guests always in the shade. The awning follows the sun. The table in full sun at noon is in the shade at one o’clock, without anyone thinking about it.
A cooler dining room. According to the US Department of Energy, quoted by Nice, solar shading such as awnings can reduce heat gain from the sun by up to 65% on south-facing windows and up to 77% on west-facing ones. Nice adds that BiDi-Awning helps reduce reliance on air conditioning.
A schedule for every moment. You program the awnings: out for lunch, up for sunset, closed at closing time. The restaurant changes its look through the day.
The restaurant in your pocket
Is the manager off today? From the Yubii Home app, they see where every awning is and adjust it from anywhere, one by one, by group or in a single gesture. Scenes adapt to each service: “Lunch”, “Sunset”, “Closing”.
And in the evening, a single scene raises the awnings, turns off the terrace lights and closes the restaurant for the night.
The line that sums it up
The sun moves, the awnings follow, and the team takes care of what matters: the guests.
AND HERE AT HOME?
From Sint Maarten to St. Kitts, from Anguilla to Antigua:
- Waterfront terraces. Here, lunch is outdoors all year round. The right shade at the right moment makes all the difference.
- A sun that moves fast. South at noon, west in the afternoon: the awnings follow without anyone thinking about it.
- The trade winds. When the wind picks up, the awnings tuck themselves away, and lunch carries on calmly.
- Sunsets. The awnings rise for the aperitif, and the view takes centre stage again.
To equip your home, a certified [ART]IST installer studies your project with you. For any question, write to mail@nice-carib.com.
Six o’clock. The sun touches the horizon, and the awnings fold away gently. On the terrace, glasses clink and the sea catches fire. The restaurant has followed the sun all day, and now it lets the sun take the spotlight.
