For restaurants, refrigeration is more than simply keeping food cold. It is the foundation of food safety, product quality, operational efficiency, and uninterrupted service. A reliable cold room and freezer system allows restaurants to preserve fresh ingredients, maintain stock levels, reduce waste, and comply with food safety standards while ensuring customers receive the same high quality meals every day.
When restaurants relocate to new premises, refrigeration systems often require far more than a simple dismantling and reinstallation. Moving a commercial refrigeration system presents an ideal opportunity to inspect every component, identify hidden problems, modernise ageing equipment, and improve long term reliability before those issues become expensive breakdowns.
This case study highlights how Glotech Group successfully relocated, upgraded, and recommissioned a cold room and freezer combination system for Bin Rashied Pizza Restaurant following the restaurant’s move from Woodstock to its new premises in Salt River, Cape Town.
Rather than simply reinstalling the existing equipment, the project became a complete refrigeration upgrade that addressed years of gradual wear, refrigerant leaks, ageing components, and insulation deficiencies. The result is a modernised refrigeration system delivering reliable, energy efficient performance while supporting the restaurant’s continued growth.
One of the most rewarding aspects of this project was continuing a long standing relationship with Bin Rashied Pizza Restaurant.
For the past six years, Glotech Group has provided refrigeration servicing, preventative maintenance, repairs, and technical support for the restaurant’s commercial refrigeration systems.
The client’s decision to renew its service agreement year after year reflects the confidence built through dependable workmanship, honest technical advice, and responsive support whenever required.
When the restaurant decided to relocate to a larger premises in Salt River during March 2026, Glotech Group was entrusted with relocating the refrigeration systems and ensuring they would perform even better than before.
Commercial refrigeration equipment cannot simply be disconnected and reassembled without careful planning.
Every relocation requires protecting the refrigeration equipment while also evaluating whether existing components remain suitable for continued operation.
Before dismantling began, our technicians carried out a detailed inspection of the complete refrigeration installation to determine which components could be reused and which should be upgraded during the move.
This assessment ultimately transformed the relocation into a complete refrigeration improvement project.
One of the first observations during the inspection was that the refrigeration condensing units remained in relatively good operating condition.
Thanks to years of regular servicing and preventative maintenance, the core refrigeration equipment still offered significant service life.
Rather than replacing equipment unnecessarily, Glotech Group recommended retaining these major components while upgrading the areas that would provide the greatest improvement in performance and reliability.
This approach allowed the client to maximise value while investing only where it would produce measurable operational benefits.
Although the refrigeration equipment remained serviceable, the insulated panels told a different story.
After years of use and dismantling, the original panels were no longer suitable for reinstallation.
Older panels often suffer from damaged joints, worn locking mechanisms, compromised insulation, and physical deterioration that reduces thermal efficiency.
Reusing these panels would have increased heat gain into both the cold room and freezer, forcing the refrigeration system to work harder while increasing energy consumption.
To avoid these long term problems, Glotech Group recommended installing new polystyrene insulated panels for both rooms (150mm thick panels for freezer and 100mm thick panels for the cold room side).
The new insulated panels provide:
The upgraded insulated structure now provides a solid foundation for reliable refrigeration performance.
Routine servicing over the previous six years had allowed our technicians to monitor the gradual ageing of several refrigeration components.
Although these parts remained operational, they had begun showing clear signs of wear.
The compressors had reached a stage where long term reliability could no longer be guaranteed.
The pressure switch had developed a recurring problem where settings repeatedly drifted out of calibration.
Two condenser fan motors also showed clear signs of age related deterioration.
Rather than waiting for these components to fail after the relocation, Glotech Group recommended replacing them during the installation.
Preventative replacement during a planned project is significantly more cost effective than emergency repairs after a breakdown.
The relocation created an excellent opportunity to modernise and standardise the refrigeration installation.
Along with replacing ageing mechanical components, a new electrical control box was installed.
This upgrade improved:
Standardising refrigeration controls also simplifies future servicing because technicians can diagnose and maintain the system more efficiently.
One issue that had affected the cold room for some time was recurring refrigerant loss.
Although periodic regassing restored cooling performance temporarily, refrigerant should never require continual replacement under normal operating conditions.
Since the refrigeration systems had already been dismantled for relocation, this presented the perfect opportunity to carry out comprehensive leak testing.
Every major refrigeration component underwent pressure testing.
This included:
Several leaks were identified within the evaporator blower coil.
These leaks were professionally brazed and repaired before recommissioning the system.
To eliminate any remaining risk of refrigerant loss, the existing refrigeration pipe run was also replaced with new copper pipework.
Replacing the pipe run removed hidden corrosion and ageing joints that could have become future leak sources.
This comprehensive approach provides far greater reliability than repeatedly topping up refrigerant.
The complete project was carefully planned to minimise disruption while ensuring every stage met Glotech Group’s quality standards.
The installation followed a structured process.
Installation of the Refrigeration Equipment
Once the new insulated panel rooms had been completed, the refrigeration systems were reinstalled.
This included:
* mounting the condensing units
* installing the evaporators
* connecting new refrigeration pipework
* completing electrical installations
* integrating new control equipment
Every installation stage followed recognised refrigeration engineering practices to ensure long term performance.
Both the cold room and freezer achieved stable operating temperatures while demonstrating smooth, reliable performance.
The completed installation delivered significant improvements across the entire refrigeration system.
The restaurant now benefits from:
Most importantly, the refrigeration systems now perform more reliably than they did before the relocation.
This project demonstrates why relocating commercial refrigeration should never be viewed as simply moving equipment from one building to another.
Every relocation creates an opportunity to evaluate the condition of the refrigeration system, replace ageing components, improve insulation, eliminate hidden faults, and modernise equipment before failures occur.
Instead of carrying previous problems into the new premises, Bin Rashied invested in improving the entire refrigeration installation.
The result is a cold room and freezer combination system capable of supporting daily restaurant operations with confidence.
With more than 15 years of experience, Glotech Group provides complete commercial refrigeration solutions for restaurants, hotels, supermarkets, food manufacturers, butcheries, seafood processors, pharmaceutical facilities, hospitality groups, and commercial businesses throughout South Africa.
Our services include:
Every project begins with understanding how the client’s business operates before designing a refrigeration solution that delivers dependable long term performance.
The Bin Rashied Salt River project is more than a successful cold room relocation. It is an example of how thoughtful engineering and preventative upgrades can transform an existing refrigeration system into a modern, reliable asset.
By combining new insulated panels, upgraded refrigeration components, improved electrical controls, repaired evaporators, new refrigeration pipework, and comprehensive commissioning, Glotech Group delivered a refrigeration system that now operates more efficiently and more reliably than ever before.
For restaurants, hospitality businesses, and food service operators planning a cold room installation, freezer room relocation, or commercial refrigeration upgrade, Glotech Group provides complete solutions backed by more than 15 years of practical industry experience, ensuring every installation is engineered for consistent performance, energy efficiency, and long term reliability.
067 153 8332
info@glotechgroup.co.za
Gotech Group offers emergency repair, replacement and installation of industrial and commercial refrigeration units restoring efficient operations in Hermanus & across Western Cape.