Phone
(903) 583-7500
Project Overview
The Branson School in Ross, California, wanted its Student Commons to function as more than an enclosed gathering space. The all-glass building was designed to connect with an adjacent outdoor dining terrace, creating the opportunity for the commons to transform into an open-air pavilion for student activities, dining, collaboration, and campus events.
The architectural challenge was integrating large operable openings without disrupting the transparency and carefully coordinated appearance of the glass façade. The doors needed to visually align with the surrounding window system while the lifting hardware, pulleys, and counterweights remained as unobtrusive as possible.
Renlita engineered three custom Float vertical lift doors, formerly the S-1000 Floataway, specifically around the architecture of the building. Rather than treating the opening systems as separate mechanical components, the doors and their operating systems were customized to become part of the pavilion’s architectural expression.
The Challenge
Creating large operable openings within an all-glass pavilion presented both functional and aesthetic challenges. The doors needed to provide substantial openings between the Student Commons and outdoor dining terrace while maintaining the visual rhythm of the surrounding glazed façade.
Standard hardware placement would have left pulleys and counterweight components at prominent locations alongside the openings. Conventional hydraulic bifold systems would also introduce additional structural and mechanical elements that could compete with the building’s transparent design.
The challenge therefore extended beyond simply opening the wall. The entire system, from the glazed door panels to the counterweights and pulley locations, needed to be engineered around the architecture.
The Solution
Renlita designed and built three custom Float vertical lift door systems for the Student Commons. Each single-panel door was designed to match the color, glazing pattern, and mullion arrangement of the surrounding window system, allowing the operable panels to read as part of the glass façade when closed.
The customization extended well beyond the doors themselves. Renlita relocated the pulley assemblies unusually high above the openings, moving prominent operating hardware up and away from the primary sightlines. The counterweights were also positioned higher than a typical Float installation and custom-shaped to accommodate the available space.
Rather than concealing the counterweights behind bulky covers, the exposed components were painted to match the surrounding architecture. This allowed necessary mechanical elements to remain visible while becoming visually integrated with the building.
When opened, each Float panel rises outward and overhead to create an awning-like canopy while opening the Student Commons directly to the outdoor dining terrace. The counterweight-balanced, motorized design accomplishes this without the hydraulic equipment and space requirements associated with conventional bifold systems.
The result is an opening system engineered at both the mechanical and architectural level: three large movable sections of façade that can transform an enclosed glass commons into an open-air pavilion while preserving the design language of the building.
Key Benefits
Architectural Integration
The Float doors were customized to match the surrounding window color, glazing pattern, and mullion design, allowing the operable panels to blend into the all-glass façade when closed. Even the exposed counterweights were painted to coordinate with the architecture, turning functional equipment into a deliberate part of the building design.
Purpose-Built Hardware Placement
Renlita moved the pulley assemblies and counterweights unusually high above the openings to keep the operating system away from primary sightlines and usable space. Custom-shaped counterweights further reduced their visual impact while maintaining the counterbalanced operation required for the large single-panel doors.
Indoor-Outdoor Flexibility
Three motorized Float systems allow the Student Commons to transition from an enclosed gathering space to an open-air pavilion. When raised, the panels create overhead canopies while opening the building directly to the adjacent dining terrace, giving the school greater flexibility for everyday student use, dining, and campus events.