Home / About Us
About Us
Who are COOL AWNINGS?
|
Cool Awnings was established in 1977 to fill, what was seen, as a gap in the market. At the time there was no manufacturer of Fixed Frame awnings coupled with a quality level of service. This product fast became sought after by schools, commercial corporations looking for advertising at their store front, as well as high-income residential home owners. |
1
2
3|
|
||||||||||||
 |
 |
We were contacted to supply and install a large black folding arm awning onto historical building in the centre of Auckland. The awning was to be installed over a central courtyard of a popular restaurant, 5m high, 6m wide and 4m extension. |
|
| The customer wanted to provide retractable weather protection to restaurant customers in an internal courtyard, mounted to a historical building with crumbling brick on one side. The only access was up a tight spiral stairwell and a small elevator. |
 |
 |
The complexity of this project is that the awning needed to be installed in an internal courtyard. The only access we had were spiral staircase and small lift. As the awning was going to be positioned so high on the wall, we needed a scissor lift - but could only get one that was very small and could fit into the lift. The awning and pelmet had to be manually lifted up the spiral staircase - imagine 4 guys and a heavy, 6m long awning, trying to get it up a circular set of stairs (picture above). Once we got the awning, scissor lift and tools to site then the next lot of fun began. The awning had to sit proud of vertical pipes, on one side, so special brackets were designed and manufactured with this in mind. The mounting area was half old brick and half solid concrete. We mounted to the concrete on one side, but had to go through the brick and bolt through the steel framework on the other side. Once the brackets were installed, we attached pelmet and flashing to the awning and used the scissor lift to get it into place, then we sealed it to the wall without penetration, all 5m high in the air. |
Highly Commended - Category one - Awnings
Setiobuti.
 |
 |
The customer wanted to provide retractable shade over glass conservatory and deck area, to shade both the outdoor area and keep the heat out from inside the home. The area for mounting was between floors on an old style tudor home, and there was lots of pipes and batons to work around.
The purpose of the project was to provide retractable shade and light rain protection over the deck and to block the sun going into the home through the conservatory in the peak of summer. Everything had to be packed out around the exterior pipes and batons, and flashings installed to close the gap back to the house to maximise the weather seal when not in use.
Was was complex about this project was, the wall was not a flush surface, but tudor style with regular batons as well as pipes running down the building. There was limited space for mounting between the conservatory and the second-floor windows and the two awnings had to be uniform along the house. We designed special brackets to mount within the available mounting space and packing out to avoid the external pipes. The bottom half of the fixings on each bracket hit the between floor joists and the top half of the fixings had to hit the vertical studs on the first floor, which were often difficult to locate, and we had to work around various pipes. The stud finder was not working on the concrete hardiplank, so years of experience and the hand sonar were called upon. This added additional time to the installation.
Flashing and special brackets were used to work around the pipes, and further packing was required to space out special brackets and flashing and to close gap between pelmet and wall.
We had to have an installer working over the conservatory glass to mount the brackets, so we laid timber on top of conservatory to be able to get (the lightest installer on the day) up to mount the brackets on the wall.
The result was that the customer has both reduced the heat entry into the home through the conservatory and is now able to use their deck a lot more. They are very happy with the final result.
Click Here to meet the Cool Awnings team
|
|
 |
 |
Our team celebrated winning two awards at the 2019 Outdoor Fabric Products Association of NZ awards in Napier.
Rachel Burns from R & B Aluminium helps owners John and Kylie Glenn, celebrate the companies success.
Winners in Category One - Best Awning
Krispy Kreme, Auckland Central.
The curved end of the building made the project very complicated, but that was only the first part. We had to arrange double sided digitally printed fabric, so the dots on the top and the bottom lined up. The dots also had to run in a special pattern, so we had to figure out how to cover the frames to make sure the dots lined up correctly on the five frames that bolted together.
The customer was also arranging for lights and branding to be mounted after, and the frame had to be designed to hold these features.
The location was a busy weekday area, and so the installation had be completed out of hours, and due to the size and mounting height we had to have a large team onsite to get it done in the day.
The main awning was approximately 10 m across, and manufactured and installed in 5 individual pieces. Luckily we have space in our building to pre-assemble the awning to make sure it all came together nicely!
The main awning was approximately 10 m across, and manufactured and installed in 5 individual pieces. Luckily we have space in our building to pre-assemble the awning to make sure it all came together nicely!
 |
 |
On the day, the main curved awning was part of the whole job which included replacing 4 other frames on either side of the building.
The frame on the day of our install before installation of the neon lights which lifted the job to the best level! We were happy to be part of the team bringing Krispy Kreme to New Zealand.
Winners - Category two - Blinds and Screens,
Newmarket Train Station.
 |
 |
The customer wanted us to provide a solution for glare coming in from 6 large north facing windows at a busy public train station. The windows were on the first floor and while they were mounted within an aluminum frame we did not want to mount directly into them and risk breaking the large, 10mm thick panels of glass and due to the suspended ceilings we did not have easy access to install directly into the mullions. As there was no access to control the curtains by gearbox or spring, they had to be motorized, with control from the ticket office. We decided a wire guided system would work best and designed a channel to mount the curtains at the top, which sat over the mullions, which was preassembled to save time on the install. The ticket office within the busy train station was getting blasted by the mid to late afternoon sun. It was directly in their eyes while they were trying to serve customers and they were very uncomfortable. Auckland Transport contacted their glass contractor who were unable to directly provide a solution, and they approached us for options. We were able to provide them with a solution to block the worst of the glare.
As this installation was within the busy train station it had to be after 7pm and before 5am, Sunday to Thursday. There was also a lot of attention to the site so all the T’s had to be crossed and I’s dotted for health and safety.
The curtains were to be mounted 6m high, over the first floor glass. The thick existing glass panels were mounted into aluminum frames that were not attached at the top, only left and right, leaving a gap for us to try a new option for mounting – channels! We manufactured a channel to fit over the customer’s mullion, and onto this channel we had pre-installed the curtain to enable quicker installation. However, as the curtain was a motorized and was to be mounted on the inside of the train station windows they were very heavy. As we could not get a scissor lift high enough to mount from the inside, due to the suspended ceilings, the installers had to install them from the outside, and over the top of the mullion off of platform ladders. Our biggest concern was that they would drop the units over the top and onto the floor 6m below, so we had a support team working on the inside, and they were also responsible for doing the bottom fixings.
Access to the outside was via an extension ladder through a small “hatch” which measured approximately 600 x 1000mm, to a narrow ledge. In one direction was the glass wall and the other was a glass awning, and the ledge was only wide enough for the ladder. We had to pass the ladders and awnings up to the boys working in the area in backwards order, as there was no room to maneuver.
 |
 |
Our lead installers working on a narrow ledge on the outside of the train station building, supported by the team on the inside, working on a scissor lift.
Is it hometime yet? We finished this complicated installation in approximately 4 hours due to good planning and preparation in the factory.
HISTORY
In 2007 John and Kylie Glenn took over the business with the aim being to evolve and promote the company as Auckland’s ‘best’ awning supplier and manufacturer. In addition to the company’s database of residential and commercial customers, Cool Awnings also has a large number of trade contacts who purchase hardware and materials and on sell it throughout New Zealand.
Cool Awnings are currently preferred suppliers to several large Auckland retirement communities including Summerset Group, Eastcliffe on Orakei and Oceania Group. They are also preferred suppliers to many of Auckland's educational facilities such as Glendowie College and Primary Schools, Superkids and Lollipops and Bear Park, are recommended for awning repairs by Vero, IAG, Smartpak and NZI Insurance companies. If you are dining out in Auckland you may be sheltered from the sun and wind by a Cool Awnings awning or drop curtain one of our many restaurant customers, including The Conservatory, Sunset Restaurant, Safran Cafe, Mexican Cafe, and any of the Mexico Restaurants.
 |
 |
 |
All of the products and services of Cool Awnings meet and exceed the markets requirements, they are the best quality available and are custom made to meet each individual clients needs. What our customers have to say about our products and services is always very good.
.jpg) |
.jpg) |
|
OUR VISION"To be Auckland’s preferred supplier of residential and commercial awnings." |
MISSION STATEMENT"Providing knowledgeable, helpful staff, prompt service, superior product and delivering what we promise." |
