Makena Beach Club

Mākena Golf and Beach Club collages a community of homes recalling early-20th-century Hawaiian architecture and modern residences with low-slope roofs. Unfolding across 24 acres within a larger development in South Maui, the resort forms a varied composition united by materials, tropical gardens, and the all-embracing vista of the Pacific. Stone, wood, and glass commune with tropical plantings and leaning palms as one enters the courtyard of the Mākena Golf and Beach Club. Architectural wood screens provide veil-like porosity for privacy and natural ventilation to upper-floor residences. The screens' linear motif is repeated in the wood ceilings of the club's interior, where floor-to-ceiling glass pocket walls allow the building to breathe. Walking out to the expansive lanai, the undulating expanse of the coast and the outline of the crescent-shaped islet of Molokini come into view. Guided by a comprehensive sustainability program, the club building forms the social core of this private community located on the slopes of the volcano Haleakalā. Cottages are defined by arrangements of traditional wood-shingle roofs, forming a visually intimate scale that belies the homes' ample footprint. At Mākena's Molokini Residences, one views the neighboring islands of Lana'i and Kaho'olawe along the ocean's steady horizon. Designed with open floor plans, Mākena's interior spaces possess a luxury that's decidedly informal, befitting the carefree pace of life along Maui's southern shore.