Month: January 2018

For a busy high-end restaurant in Ontario, the recipe for success includes a farm-fresh menu, impeccable service and a gorgeous al fresco dining patio, resplendent with rich teak wooden tables and benches.

Named one of Open Table’s Top 100 outdoor dining experiences in Canada in 2017, Dolcetto restaurant in London, Ontario, is an elegant, bustling bistro that honors the Italian way of life. The restaurant, which opened in 2012, artfully creates a space that celebrates family and community in a warm and welcoming dining experience for customers.

To invoke a European flare, the walls in the restaurant open to the gorgeous patio, resplendent with rich teak tables and cushioned wooden benches. The effect not only brings the outdoors in, but it also nearly doubles the seating capacity during warm weather months. The owners, brothers Dino and Bob DiFruscia – who are established restauranteurs and have been in the business for 37 years – know you don’t succeed in this industry by doing anything half-baked.

Dino calls Sansin Resolution – a marine-grade wood stain they chose for Dolcetto’s stylish wooden tables and banquettes – the most durable product he’s seen in over three decades of restaurant experience.

“The biggest difference is the tables are significantly more resilient and actually look better than they did new from the manufacturer,” says DiFruscia. “After the first year [before coating with Resolution], I noticed significant wear, so we redid them with Sansin Resolution. The stain was spectacular! They looked amazing and they looked exactly the same after a busy season.”

In the restaurant business, quality, resilience and predictability are at the top of the list of priorities. DiFruscia says Sansin’s Resolution, one of This Old House’s Top 100 Products, did not disappoint. “The tables did not need to be redone when they came out of winter storage – not even a scratch on them from the previous season’s use!” he marvels. “The durability of this product is something I have never seen in my 36 years in business.”

About the Resolution System

Initially formulated for harsh and varied marine environments, Resolution is a two-part, environmentally friendly, NGR (non-grain raising) high-performance wood finish system. Resolution is tougher, more beautiful and longer-lasting than varnish, delivering brilliant clarity and low-maintenance performance. Its high-solids content and fast cure times make it easy to apply and allow projects to get completed quickly – important in the restaurant industry – and others – where time is money. Resolution I is the primer step. It is a high-solids finish that penetrates and fills the wood grain with deep UV and moisture protection. Resolution II is the second step. It is a crystal-clear, low VOC finish available in gloss or satin finishes.

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For biggest public investment in Quebec City’s history, wood is selected for its aesthetic, environmental and economic benefits.

The New Quebec City Amphitheatre, also known as the Videotron Centre, is a new multi use indoor arena in Quebec City, Quebec. It occupies approximately 64,000 square meters (689,000 sq. ft.) of space and has a capacity for 20,396 people for non-sporting events and 18,259 spectators for hockey games.

Unveiled in 2015, the US$400 million, seven-story arena fits into the city’s strategy of supporting sustainability projects. The facility is currently in the process to achieve LEED Silver certification. It has a dual-structural system consisting of ductile concrete walls and a steel frame, but wood plays an important role not only in the Amphitheatre’s sustainability, but also in its structural integrity, performance and beauty.

Francois Moreau, CEO of ABCP Architecture, a firm internationally known for its sustainable design and certified by the Canadian Green Building Council (CaGBC), explained his design for the Amphitheatre, saying, “The number one motivation for using wood in the Amphitheatre was to give the building a distinctive local signature and foster the quality of the interior spaces.” He added, “However, given the structural capacity and fast construction time required for this type of building, wood also proved to be an economical choice. The environmental benefits of wood were another reason for choosing this material.”

Moreau explained that although many materials such as concrete and steel are recyclable, wood is the only renewable building material and takes very little energy to harvest and process compared to other materials. In addition, wood timber is a carbon sink, a natural reservoir that accumulates and stores carbon dioxide. “So, every cubic meter of wood used offsets one ton of greenhouse gas emissions,” Moreau noted.

Coating for Protection and Beauty

Proper protection to maintain the durability and aesthetic performance of wood in building construction is critical, but the importance of the first coat cannot be overstated. At the Quebec City site, for example, environmental conditions can be daunting, with long periods of cold from the arctic air. Sansin’s high performance, water-borne, environmentally friendly wood finishes were used, with KP-12 used as a protective undercoat prior to construction, ensuring stability, UV and moisture protection. For the interior, Sansin’s Purity Clear created a brilliant finish. Sansin finishes were selected to complement the coloration of the wood and were recommended by Cecobois, a regional program of the Québec Forest Industry Council whose goal is to support innovation and provide leadership on the use of wood and wood products.

The Amphitheatre’s design is part of a growing trend in building design, as Glue Laminated Timber (Glulam) is becoming a desired option for large structures. Beyond aesthetic and environmental considerations, wood structures are now competitive options. For one, wood has virtually infinite building possibilities given its ability to be shaped into curves.

“Architects and engineers are starting to see the full potential of wood as evidenced by media coverage in many local and international publications,” stated Moreau. Moreau believes it’s the responsibility of design and construction professionals to educate their clients of the myriad possibilities wood has to offer.

The Quebec City Amphitheatre is the biggest public investment in Quebec City’s history. The developer’s trust in wood design demonstrates their foresight and stands as a world-class example for building structures of all sizes, shapes and functions.

About KP-12 and Purity Clear

KP-12 is an outstanding penetrating protective undercoat for timbers, dimensional laminated lumber and engineered wood components like CLT and Glulam that enhances dimensional stability and protects wood from UV degradation and moisture absorption. Of note, KP-12 allows subsequent coats to penetrate into the wood nicely, versus other undercoats that act as sealers.

Purity Clear is an excellent high-solids finish that enhances the natural tone and character, especially for light colored woods – like pine and cedar – where a warm, mellow tone is desirable. It is UV resistant, washable, environmentally friendly, and low in VOC’s.

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