Waialae Country Club

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SL73 Hotels event venues with large opening impact-rated glass walls

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Product

SL73 Hurricane

Application

Hurricane Impact Glass Doors

Architect

WATG Honolulu, HI

Photographer

Lawerence Anderson

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Built in the early 1970s, Honolulu's Waialae Country Club serves a premiere golf club with luxurious appointments, even providing a home for the PGA’s annual Sony Open golf tournament. However, decades of decay and a clubhouse design that made little use of its superb beachfront location in Kahala, necessitated renovations that would lead to the inclusion of a sizable NanaWall installation.

According to Rick Myers, project manager for the renovation with WATG, the client hoped to enhance the experience for club members and guests by bringing the spectacular views of the waterfront setting from the enclosed lanai all the way into the dining room.

A System to Withstand Harsh Marine Environments

The original installation featured wood bi-fold doors to enclose the lanai that had become more difficult to operate over time, mainly due to the corrosion of the hardware. "These doors stayed closed more often than not," recalls Myers.

"The client wished to replace them with a more durable product --one that would be easier to operate and could withstand the salt corrosion." Myers and his team concluded that NanaWall's SL73 Thermally Broken Aluminum Framed Hurricane Approved Folding System would best serve the project.

“The client wanted to take advantage of the indoor/outdoor dining experience, and NanaWall helped them achieve that.”

Performance and Durability

Though competitor systems might have saved the client slightly in initial outlay, NanaWall's solid, tested construction offered the best long-term performance and cost-effectiveness, largely owing to first-of-its-kind engineering as a monumental folding wall system for low and mid-rise applications with both Miami-Dade and AAMA Hurricane certification.

"We knew the NanaWall system was probably more expensive than other similar products," Myers relates. "However, we wanted a more reliable product, a more durable product, and one that was more user-friendly."

In all, the NanaWall system installed at Waialae achieved every one of the client's "wish list" items for renovating the space, and even created an opportunity for additional openness and transparency.

Unobstructed Views and Natural Daylighting

"We really want to open things up, bring more light in,” said lead architect Sidney Char in the run-up to the renovation. The NanaWall system's performance in durability and weather-resistance created an opportunity for the removal of an entire interior glass wall separating the main dining area from the enclosed lanai, delivering unobstructed views of the exterior and generous natural daylight to the entire space.
"Being on the waterfront, we did wish to take advantage of the views," affirms Myers. "The client wanted to take advantage of the indoor/outdoor dining experience, and NanaWall helped them achieve that."

Ease of Use

Now the country club patrons enjoy views of outside year-round in any weather, even when the seven openings and their 28 bi-fold panels are fully closed. And the ease of operation associated with all of NanaWall's products have transformed the space from being "closed more often than not" to being open during most hours and days of operation.

"We also liked the construction of the product," Myers adds. "It was more solidly built." NanaWall's engineering assured the stakeholders that the system would perform well for years to come, no matter how often club staff opened and closed the doors, and no matter what abuse the tropical weather patterns would launch against the panels.

"NanaWall is well known in Hawaii," says Myers. "We will use NanaWall products again and would recommend them to clients and other designers."

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