Project Spotlight: Atlantic Beach Country Club

Learn about the challenges we overcame in building the Atlantic Beach Country Club to deliver a truly remarkable project.

Key Takeaways:

• Explore behind the scenes as the ABCC evolves architecturally and aesthetically. 
• Discover how new additions were created for fun and fitness.
• Learn how protective construction features were also added to ABCC’s visual appeal.

Just a few blocks from the ocean, you’ll find the Atlantic Beach Country Club, a haven for sports and fitness enthusiasts where golf, tennis, aquatics, and racquetball are available alongside opportunities to dine, shop, or simply relax and savor the atmosphere.

RPC General Contractors are proud to have worked as the Atlantic Beach Country Club’s builder, further raising the profile of this beautiful location by expanding its amenities, enhancing its aesthetics, and bolstering its safety. 

Let’s look back at how we did it.

Builder Expertise and Quality Craftsmanship

Our dedication to excellence since 1987 means that experience, reputation, and commitment to exceptional results are three defining factors of our business. 

As a full-service construction company, we’ve forged partnerships with other industry professionals who value those same qualities.

Together, we applied the highest quality craftsmanship in:

• Roofing
• Plumbing
• Carpentry
• Electrical work
• Construction of pool and tennis buildings
• Bridge structuring

The ABCC project required multiple teams to stay out of each other’s way while communicating to solve problems. RPC gave our partners plenty of leeway while staying connected to project designers and onsite crews.

Constant collaboration helped ensure the project’s vision corresponded with the shifting realities of actual construction, such as when RPC held an all-day architectural meeting to ensure the proper placement of elements like lighting and downspouts around the ABCC.

Construction Challenges and Solutions

The Florida weather was generally fair, but in one instance, it proved a threat to a critical part of the project. PVC lines—a key component of an ongoing fire sprinkler system—had arrived onsite. These are thermally sensitive by design, so they would have been vulnerable if left in direct sunlight.

Alternate storage had to be quickly arranged to protect the PVC. At the same time, the opposite problem—too much indoor darkness—was a minor issue resolved by bringing in temporary lights from offsite to illuminate dim interiors. 

Elsewhere, work continued in trenching and setting pipes for the ABCC’s tennis court lighting.

Some of the most challenging work involved addressing inconsistent framing. Plumb and level checks revealed that quite a few of the ABCC’s doors and some of the walls required attention.

Hard work corrected the necessary framing throughout the interior of the building to ensure everything was in shape. 

Safeguarding the ABCC

The walls of ABCC’s clubhouse had to be fire-blocked throughout. Fire blocking is the sealing of exposed spaces with fire-resistant materials to hinder the rapid progress of flames. This was no small job, considering the clubhouse is 16,000 square feet.

Our team also worked hard on mid-span blocking the clubhouse. This provides floors and decking with increased support and stability, creating a safer environment underfoot and preventing the ABCC’s visitors from bouncing as they walk!

The main clubhouse’s water and drain lines were carefully insulated to shield against the effects of freezing and condensation. Condensation may not sound like much of a threat, but it’s how mold and rust start to spread. 

Without expert installation, these would have threatened both the health of the ABCC’s patrons and the integrity of the pipework itself.

There was also the constant clean-up that must take place at the end of every construction day. Debris, tools, and equipment left out of place would have threatened onsite teams and the structure by increasing the risk of physical and fire-based accidents.

Innovative Design Features

The ABCC received some architectural flair with a Porte Cochere: a small, roofed structure to an access point that also provides shelter from the elements for visitors and vehicles. 

These eye-catching areas must also be sturdy, so we added a concrete Porte Cochere footer to the block wall between the ABCC’s clubhouse and cabana.

Our team also installed a bridge span structure and supportive wing walls while adding a “riprap” on the waterside of the bridge. This visually appealing addition also plays a protective role: a collection of stones, rocks, and sometimes concrete placed at a bridge’s foundations to protect against damage.

A pedestrian walkway was constructed across the bridge. Electrical outlets were carefully laid out for a patio bar with its own brick pattern, and still, more water work was needed.

Shaping the ABCC’s swimming facilities required installing trusses in the pool building structure while grading and setting steel for the pool itself. 

The pool area was shaped with large pre-cut form boards, and a drain system was installed for the zero-entry area (a gently sloping entrance to a pool that mimics entering the ocean from the shore).

Crowning the ABCC

Capping the project required roofing and framing over entranceways, sheathing towers, and adding dormers. 

The latter are extended roof structures with windows for greater illumination and visual flair that were added to tennis and pool structures. Tongue-and-groove boards were also painted to complement the ABCC’s tower roof.

Our carpentry crew further contributed to the overhead work by laying out, marking, and installing string lines for coffer beams in three different ceiling locations, which would add an attractive concave effect, creating extra height. 

This also helped ensure that lights and sprinkler heads were properly positioned.

There’s Lots to Remember Looking Back

A single spotlight is rarely long enough to list every detail on a construction project that’s the size and scope of ABCC. 

Here’s more work we took care of:

• Consolidating ball valves for centralized roof access to avoid unnecessary access panels in hard lid ceilings
• Roughing in duct work
• Routing refrigeration lines across the clubhouse from south to north
• Positioning access panels for top-down access to exhaust fans
• Taping and duct sealing
• Welding ducts for kitchen hoods

It was demanding work, but it was also our pleasure to build the Atlantic Beach Country Club, helping to elevate it to new levels of beauty, fun, and safety. Here’s to the continued success of one of Florida’s most popular clubs!

Don’t miss another one of our project spotlights where the RPC team tackled the challenging project of carefully constructing the Saint restaurant, which incorporated one of Florida’s oldest and most culturally significant structures.

Perfect Your Next Project with RPC

ABCC isn’t the only impressive thing in Atlantic Beach. You can also find us, a full-service construction company here to meet all your construction needs. 

Just send us a message, call (904) 241-4416, or stop by our office. We’d love to meet you!