Solar film fitted while the storefront was still being built out
Wall Style Innovations installed Madico Optivision 45 DA solar window film on the glass of a ground-floor restaurant unit at 615 6 Avenue SE in Calgary's East Village. The unit sits at street level in a new mixed-use block; across the avenue, the next building was still in scaffolding on the day of the installation, and the tenant was fitting out for opening.
The glass package for the unit also included cut-vinyl window graphics, documented separately in the storefront window graphics case study for the same address. This page covers the film: how the doors and display glass read from the street once filmed, and what the view is like from inside.
- Service
- Commercial solar window film installation
- Location
- East Village, Downtown Calgary (SE)
- Film
- Madico Optivision 45 DA solar window film
- Glass
- Glazed double entry doors and street-facing storefront glass, 615 6 Avenue SE
- Photographs
- Exterior and interior views from installation day
Doors that read as one dark plane from the street
From the sidewalk the two door lites and the transom above them now read as a single dark surface in the grey aluminium frames. In daylight the film returns a mirror of the street: the condominium towers, the construction hoarding and the sky are what a passer-by sees, with the interior dimmed behind them.
For a restaurant that is the point. Daytime sun on street-level glass lands on the tables nearest the door, and a dark solar film is the usual answer for reducing what reaches them; the white address lettering on the transom stays legible against the darker glass.
From inside, the street stays in view
The interior photograph is the one to judge a solar film by. Looking out through the same doors, the scaffolding, the hoarding and the paving across 6 Avenue are all plainly visible; the film darkens the scene the way sunglasses do rather than closing it off. The transom lettering reads mirrored from this side, which is how you can tell it is the same pair of doors.
This is the trade-off a street-level business is really choosing: a dimmer, more private look from the pavement in daylight, and an outward view that stays open for staff and guests. After dark the relationship reverses once the room is lit, which is why a shade should be judged from both sides of the glass, not from the sidewalk alone.
Planning solar film for a storefront fit-out in Downtown Calgary
Decide the film before the graphics
If the same glass will carry lettering or a logo, settle the film shade first. The contrast of white vinyl against a dark film is part of how the signage reads, and the two trades need to agree on which surface each product goes on.
Photograph both sides of the glass
Send one wide exterior view in daylight and one from inside looking out. Exterior glass mirrors the street, so an inside view is the only honest record of what the film does to the outlook.
Work around the fit-out
A storefront is usually filmed before opening day, while the unit is still being fitted out. Tell us the opening date, who else needs the entrance that week and when the glass will be clean and accessible, so the film is scheduled around the other trades rather than against them.
Explore related Calgary film projects
See the cut-vinyl window graphics installed on this same storefront, compare it with our Stephen Avenue storefront solar film a few blocks west, or browse more SE Calgary installations.
Fitting out a storefront or restaurant in Calgary?
Send a wide photo of the frontage, a view from inside looking out, the approximate glass sizes and your opening date. We will tell you which panes are worth filming, which shade to look at, and how the film fits around your other trades.
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