This Italian restaurant, situated on the top floor of an exclusive outdoor shopping center in Santa Monica, California, specified a dark-colored storefront, designed to catch customers’ eyes.

The west-facing location not only needed to withstand exposure but the moisture-rich saltwater air was also a major consideration towards durability for the exterior window system.

Typically black window coatings cause rapid heat gain and extreme surface temperatures, resulting in rapid fluctuations in wood moisture content, shrink and swell. Traditional lumber framing suffers swelling, splitting and distortion in most environments, resulting in frequent maintenance and/or replacement. In this application, Accoya wood was the ideal window frame material for its low thermal conductivity, dimensional stability and low maintenance requirements.

“Accoya wood was really the only logical choice,” said Cliff Duernberger, vice president of hardwood lumber at Royal Plywood Company. “It is a very stable window framing option, doesn’t shrink or swell like other woods and comes with a 50-year warranty. It really just can’t be beat.”