North Hills Club in Raleigh, North Carolina, offers racket sports, swimming facilities and dining opportunities to the club members and their families. Shade is an essential component of country club pool spaces and aesthetic, good looking umbrellas improve member satisfaction.
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“Whether they're coming for racket sports, the pool, for the restaurant and dining or social events, we just want to make sure they're always leaving here, wanting to come back again. A home-away-from-home.” - Christine Johnson, Director of Operations, North Hills Club
Country Club Design
Shade is an essential component of any space with pool furniture. Country club pool areas are populated over the summer months as members flock to the comfort and activities they provide. Product options are numerous for country club design. In the past, North Hills Club opted for permanent shade structures and centre pole umbrellas in various locations around the club facilities, including the pools.
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After a lot of trial and error, North Hills Club found their existing shade solutions weren’t fit for purpose. Permanent structures such as gazebos and pergolas don’t move and require a lot of cleaning and maintenance and smaller centre-pole umbrellas don’t provide enough shade on an individual basis. "We brought in Shadowspec Umbrellas because we noticed, that around our pool, we didn't have quite as much shade as the members were wanting. We had put some in-ground structures several years ago, but they were a lot more expensive and not as easy to use. We can't ever take them down." Said Christine.
The pool area at North Hills Club
Outdoor Space Design Collaboration
Shadowspec first connected with North Hills Club at the CMAA Conference in 2022, with the opportunity to showcase the Shadowspec Unity Multi-canopy cantilever umbrella and how our technology could enhance the country club pool’s offering. Together we worked to develop and design the perfect outdoor shade structure for the space.
Conferences are the ideal place to connect with organisations to discuss outdoor shade ideas and country club pool furniture layouts. Cross-pollination of ideas and outdoor concepts is key to creating spaces that members are happy to visit and return to.
“We chose Shadowspec because our General Manager saw them at the club conference and we were, just, very impressed by them. The ease of use and the way that they looked, because the look is very important to our members.” Added Christine.
Pool furniture will always enhance country club design. Thirty pool loungers alongside a raised section and two pools required shade. This location at the club was excellent for two Shadowspec Unity Quatto umbrellas.
Installed with oyster canopies and Shadowspec’s proprietary Space Grey frame, these ground-mounted umbrellas rotate to follow the sun and provide all-day cover. Adding Shadowspec umbrellas to the poolside project revamp with new furniture and layout has created a great space members and their families can enjoy, all summer long.
Prioritise Member Satisfaction
“We wanted to make sure we had a really good product and he seemed to like them. We looked into them, Shadowspec got great reviews on them and so we decided to go that direction.”
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We’ve found country clubs and other high-end institutions require products that are fit for purpose. The Shadowspec Unity matches country club design principles for hospitality facilities with patented opening technology. Enabling staff to open and close the umbrellas fast.
Two Shadowspec Unity umbrellas with four canopies have a shade coverage of up to 36 sqm / 20sqft and can be deployed within 30 seconds. The same shade coverage, provided by individual centre pole umbrellas could take 30 minutes for a staff member to deploy. That is a lot of time stacked up over the day, every day. “Shadowspec Umbrellas have helped us with short-term and long-term goals, providing that extra shade that we wanted for the members. We've got a lot of young families and it continues to get younger. So having shade around the pool is important and they have improved that.” said Christine.
Clubs and hospitality venues are facing steep competition for foot traffic. Country club pools will always be popular for existing and potential members and their families. Creating outdoor spaces that are accessible, easy to use and comfortable is a key component of customer satisfaction and retention. Providing something just a little bit different. Country club members expect shade and quality all year round and we’re proud to work with North Hills Club to deliver an experience that feels like a home-away-from-home.
Would you like to add the Shadowspec Unity™ to your country club pool area?
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