Up on the Rooftop

or In the Garage, there’s plenty of room!

“Put it on the roof or find a corner in the parking garage”, is an easy response when deciding where to put many mechanical equipment components. Roof space is often at a premium, especially if you share it with other tenants. You cannot assume that space is available up there or that you can get from your tenant space to the roof if it means going up through other floors or tenant spaces. Parking garages do have odd corners that may accommodate compressors or small systems that can be separated from the main kitchen. Hanging compressors from a garage ceiling or stacking them in an unused parking garage corner is common. But this equipment needs to be protected from traffic and vandalism.

Oil recovery systems, CO2 tanks and similar items may also fall into that category.  While that space is typically not part of a leased space, many operators negotiate with their landlords to occupy these spaces, saving valuable restaurant space. Understand this as part of your site review and lease discussions.

Equipment that is usually put on the roof are air handling units, kitchen hood exhaust fans and make-up air units, pollution control units (PCUs), remote refrigeration compressors and vents, flues or other air exhaust and intake units and even signage.  Along with all this equipment, there are code required separations between exhaust and air intake and space required for service access. The roof fills up very quickly.

Since several disciplines – mechanical, electrical, food service and architectural - may need to locate equipment on the roof or in parking garages, the architect should coordinate the overall roof plan and related garage plan showing all these items. This can be a complex endeavor since not all suppliers or sub-contractors work directly for the General Contractor. The work and equipment provided by these outside trades may not be directed or under the supervision of the architect or General Contractor. This work often includes remote refrigeration, wine room systems, wifi systems and even small rooftop chef gardens.

Kitchen designers prefer to put remote refrigeration units outside – on the roof, outside mezzanine or in an enclosed exterior space to alleviate the problems with heat from these units affecting the interior space. The refrigeration sub-contractor may be working directly for the owner or for the kitchen equipment vender who, in turn, may be working directly for the owner.  As a result, these units may not appear on the architect’s or engineers’ construction drawings.  The size and location of these units, their utilities and the routing of the remote refrigeration lines needs to be coordinated with the General Contractor at the start of construction to avoid conflicts with routing or inaccessibility when walls or ceilings are closed up.

We have discussed the need for “kick off” or pre-construction meetings with all trades.  Any trades working directly for the owner should be included in these meetings.

Overlook coordination of rooftop equipment,  access, layout and the location of all rooftop equipment early in the construction process at your peril!