Impact Windows Featured In Apartment Renovation

Converting a hotel into a senior independentliving facility required 2,200 impact-resistant, commercial-grade windows.

Ft. Myers is known as a gateway to southwest Florida and is itself a major tourist destination. Surrounded by water and beautiful vegetation, its beauty and charm is exactly what you’d expect. As with so many metropolitan areas in south Florida, however, a hard challenge lurks under the surface: How can builders protect their properties from the certainty of dangerous weather? That question was top of mind when the architects at

Sheeley Architects Inc., Ft. Myers (lotusarchitecture.com), renovated the Campo Felice building.

Campo Felice is a 26-floor senior independent-living facility located on the water. Originally a Sheraton hotel, the building was reimagined into a new life and construction began two years ago.

Now completed, the building went through numerous development phases with everyone on the team weighing in on the process. While all elements of the renovation were important, special attention was paid to the windows, given the building’s waterfront location. From the architectural team to interior designers, everyone put forth an opinion on the windows, frame colors, and other project details.

The architects, working with Lou Luongo, managing partner of LouMac Distributors, also in Ft. Myers (loumac.com), chose windows manufactured by CGI Commercial (commercialcgi. com). The Miami-based company manufactures impact-resistant products configured for demanding commercial and residential applications.

Above right. A former Sheraton hotel, Campo Felice is now a 26-floor senior independent-living facility located on the water in Ft. Myers, FL.

Right. The Campo Felice building offers several apartment selections, each facing the water or the cityscape.

Campo Felice features approximately six windows in each apartment unit, totaling about 2,200 impactresistant windows throughout the building.

CGI’s Storefront window system offers features that provide a strong, safe, beautiful commercial window. Design pressure ratings as high as +90/-120 psf ensure security and safety from wind-borne debris, while an external wet glaze creates an exterior barrier, reducing the worry of water infiltration.

Campo Felice features approximately six windows for each unit, all pre-glazed, totaling about 2,200 windows throughout the building. Storefront-style commercial glass normally comes in two phases: aluminum sticks and the glass itself. The end product must be assembled on the job site, a labor-intensive activity that often leads to mistakes.

“The beauty of CGI Storefront: the windows come in one piece, you install them in the hole, and move on,” stated Luongo. “Something that used to require 15 guys can now be completed correctly with seven.” CGI Storefront meets all codes for southern Florida, from low-e insulation to the Miami-Dade requirements. The Campo Felice building offers several apartment selections, each facing the water or the cityscape. CA

Want more information? To download the information listed below, visit commercialarchitecturemagazine.com/1803cgi.

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Download the CGI Windows Commercial Series brochure.

Download the Florida Building Code, 6th Edition.

View a gallery of CGI Commercial window installations.

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