Let’s say you’re an architect or designer in need of a fireplace 32 feet long.

Where do you go?

If you’re smart, you’ll look up Ortal Heat, a 25-year-old Israeli company with an office in Los Angeles and a warehouse in New Jersey.

That’s what Scottsdale-based Kona Grill did – and now the chain features Ortal fireplaces in each of its 30 restaurants coast to coast.

“We’re in seven percent of all the hearths in the nation, with one of the only products that allows you to put whatever you want around the fireplace and project heat as well,” says Spencer Lowe, Ortal’s national project manager.

The company’s “Cool Wall” technology – the way the fireplace unit works as a cavity – heats up and draws room air in, with radiant heat off the glass.

“It’s 82 percent efficient,” he says. “All the heat is pushed back out and that keeps it from going up the wall, which allows us to put tapestry, marble, or steel around the fireplace.”

Aesthetically, a frameless opening means a look straight into the fire itself. “That gives architects an open feel like the old wood burning fireplace,” he says.

With 80 different designs – from modern to traditional, Ortal’s now witnessing a transition in the industry. Its fireplaces start as small as 20 inches, with a standard opening that reaches 96 inches long. “We have a custom product line to 32 feet long, with a clamp and bracket system,” he says. “And we have a 21-foot unit in a lobby in a hotel in Israel.”

Its fireplaces can be found at the high end of the category – in million-dollar-plus homes, hotel lobbies and showroom spaces. “We want the feel of a very elegant setting,” he says.

They’re capable of creating that, too.

For more, go here.

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