Cruising down Florida’s historic A1A beachfront road will take you on a tour of some of the state’s most-iconic neighborhoods. When the two-lane road reaches Boca Raton, the home’s turn into a combination of high-rise condominiums, single-family residences, and palatial estates. As is common in regional architecture, many of the properties were constructed with flat roofs that make ideal rooftop decks. For one luxury property owner in Boca Raton, their roof deck became a weeknight retreat from hectic days at work. Incorporating a cushioned seating area and a separate outdoor dining space made the rooftop deck a great place to relax and entertain, but the hot South Florida afternoons often made the space inaccessible. To turn this exposed upper deck into a cool, relaxing space in any weather, SYZYGY Global channeled all of its creativity to design a rooftop cabana.
In the seaside residential neighborhoods along A1A in Boca Raton, multi-story estates peak over the treetops, revealing views all the way to the horizon over the Atlantic Ocean. Many of the luxury homes here have taken advantage of their property’s flat roofs to create amazing rooftop decks with rooftop cabanas. This property owner had previously installed thick artificial turf on the roof deck to protect bare feet from the scalding surface, giving the space a manicured resort feel. Outdoor couches and an outdoor dining space modernized one end of the roof deck, but the owners were looking to create a shade space that allowed them to enjoy the 360-degree views even when the sun was high in the sky. To overcome a couple unique challenges, SYZYGY Global designed a rooftop cabana that could seal out the sun and rain while elevating the overall look of the entire outdoor living space.
Taking this rooftop cabana from concept to reality required determination. The first design challenge arose in the early planning stages of this project. Initially, the customer chose a modern adjustable louvered roof pergola, but local zoning codes prevented the installation of a fixed structure on the roof. Consequently, the SYZYGY Global design team pivoted to designing a custom K-Bana cabana instead. The modular freestanding K-Bana is available in 8, 10, 12-foot square segments that can be combined to create unique shapes or to scale the overall footprint of the cabana to meet customer needs. With an array of customizable roof, wall and floor options, the K-Bana can flex to meet just about any outdoor lifestyle. Most importantly, for this project, the K-Bana does not require footings, allowing it to be classified as “patio furniture” according to municipal zoning and building codes. The SYZYGY Global team took advantage of this categorization and crafted a truly unique aluminum cabana that perfectly matched the style and elegance of this luxury home. In this case, SYZYGY chose four interconnected 12’x12’ cabana zones to create a spacious covered outdoor living area.
Another challenge encountered in this project was the customer’s insistence, and rightfully so, that the 360-degree views remain as unencumbered as possible. To maintain those sweeping views, the SYZYGY team opted to keep the sides of the fully-customizable cabana open, giving this project the look and feel of the originally intended rooftop pergola. To restore the functionality of the originally selected adjustable louvered roof pergola, the SYZYGY designers incorporated a manually adjusted louvered roof design. By using hand cranks to open and close the louvers of each of the four louvered zones independently, the property owners could maintain full shade on one side of the cabana while controlling the sun/shade balance in other areas protected by the cabana roof.
The neighborhoods that make up the stretch of scenic A1A running through Boca Raton truly exude modern Florida vibes. While many properties have been raised and replaced with nouveau designs, nearly every property still maintains the prevalent all-white exteriors that define the coastal region. In order to preserve the visual consistency of the home’s existing exterior, as well as that of the entire neighborhood, this new rooftop cabana was clad in all white powder coating. This protective coating shields the cabana from the elements and guarantees its longevity as a long-term investment.
If you have tried to find a pergola contractor to design a custom rooftop cabana, only to be discouraged by stringent local zoning or building codes, reach out to our team, and we can help you discover new and innovative approaches to bring your project to life.
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