WERE YOU BORN IN A TENT

Monday 14 July 2014

LITLLE HENRI

850 High St, Thornbury

Visited: 5th July 2014

Design: I have always loved this entry, along with the exterior and interior of this building. The gentle cement ramp, the white painted brick, the black framing of the windows and poles against the white walls. I love the fact that from the street the Crittall Windows that wrap across the front, through the entrance and around the side of the building, create an effect like someone has sliced a whole section right out of the the middle of the building which you can see into. The building has a beautiful Art Deco feel, almost like and old theatre. These windows form a beautiful unity where you have the old building marrying the new slick contemporary edge. It is a perfectly sized door for this entry, it feels spacious and solid and almost protective. It really grounds the entrance. There is minimal clutter on the entry with only a well designed printed menu and hand designed opening hours sign and a simple CASH ONLY. Which in my opinion, I think the CASH ONLY sign detracts from the beauty of the door, but people need to know these things. I love the ribbed glass paneling across the two top rows of glass above the door. It breaks up the clear glass to give a feeling of texture. The two black metals panels at the base ground the door and are a smart safety element as well as stylish. The gold handle in contrast with the black of the door just makes it glow. Great on the hand and very comfortable to grip. There was a nice heavy resistance on the open. The handle on the right was interesting, not sure if this was a design issue and it had to be on that side, but I found that rather than creating a natural flow into the building if it was on the left, you have to do an s-bend snake manoeuvre to enter. All good though. There return on the close was smooth and defiant with a nice click.

The thing I love about this blog is the history behind door design that I discover as I go along. Like for instance, I have just discovered this glass and steel panel design you see here at Little Henri is called the Crittall Window. Popular with Art Deco and Modernist design there were also incorporated into the Titanic. The Crittall Window was introduced and began being manufactured in Australia back in the 1920's. Incredible to think 90 years later this design still feels so contemporary and fresh. Timeless.

Door resistance: 4.5

Closure mechanism: Hydraulic arm

Draft: Minimal

Squeak level: 0

Change return time: 50 sec

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PROFESSIONAL DOOR REVIEWER

Searching the world for the perfect door to eat behind.

First impressions are always important, especially for a restaurant or cafe. So many people are focusing on the food these days that I felt there was a hole in the reviews world. No one was looking at the most important thing, THE DOOR! Everyone complains when it is left open, death stares are exchange when the unsuspecting group of friends having a fun night enter the premises from the cold only to walk straight in and go straight to their table totally oblivious they have left the door wide open to allow an arctic strength gale force wind to cut through the previously warm interior. Like a scene from a western film where everyone in the premises stops what they are doing and cuts down the new comers with a deathly stare. Occasionally you will get the confident diner who gets up, walks across the restaurant and closes the door with a BANG! Just to let the new comers know they have done wrong and to NEVER, EVER DO IT AGAIN!!!!! This individual makes their way back to the table staring at the newcomers, just to make sure they got the message. The only problem is, is that 5 minutes later another group come in and do the same thing and he/she feels obliged to continually do this for the rest of the night.

Well hopefully this blog puts a light on the owners of these establishments and encourages them to lift their game and create doors that allow diners to sit and enjoy their meal, to give the diner an experience before they enter the building. It is also a thank you to the makers of quality doors who care about craftsmanship.

I have developed a scoring system based on,

DESIGN:

This is assessed by the materials the door is made from, whether the door is themed, cluttered or minimal and whether there is an element of surprise or not.

DOOR RESISTANCE: 1 to 5

1 = light push

5 = heavy push

CLOSURE MECHANISM: Manual, automatic or

hydraulic arm

DRAFT: Minimal, medium or high

SQUEAK LEVEL: 0 up to 5

0 = No squeak

5 = Ear piercing

Then the last assessment is the,

CHANGE RETURN TIME:

This is the amount of time it takes to get my change once I have given the waiter the money for the bill. Last impressions are always just as important as first.