La Ronde (restaurant)
Building
The restaurant was situated at 1441 Kapi'olani Boulevard in the Ala Moana district of Honolulu. It was located on the 23rd floor of the Ala Moana Building, adjacent to the Ala Moana Complex shopping center.
The restaurant was 72 ft (22 m) in diameter with a 16-foot-wide (4.9 m) revolving carousel which rotated around a fixed core and had a seating capacity of 162 guests. The office building has a total height of 25 floors and 298 ft (91 m) including an observation deck at the top. The rotational speed was 1 rotation per hour.
History
The building was designed by John Graham Jr. of the architectural firm John Graham & Company. The building was completed in 1960 and inaugurated 21 November 1961. At that time, it was the highest building in Honolulu.
Graham received a patent for the revolving design in 1964 (US patent No. 3125189). Later, the restaurant was renamed "Windows of Hawaii" but closed completely in the mid-1990s. The premises were converted to office space, and the floor was welded into place.
There was another revolving restaurant in Hawaii, called Top of Waikiki. It was closed in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
References
- ^ Going 'round Waikiki, 2006 Archived 10 May 2017 at the Wayback Machine Star Bulletin (accessdate 31 July 2016)
- ^ Ala Moana Center Emporis (accessdate 31 July 2016)
- ^ Ala Moana Building Archived 18 March 2015 at the Wayback Machine Ala Moana Center (accessdate 31 July 2016)
- ^ Ala Moana Center, Architectural History Report page 37-39 Archived 10 May 2017 at the Wayback Machine Mason Architects (accessdate 31 July 2016)
- ^ Some Construction and Housing Firsts in Hawaii, 72nd Annual Report, 1963, page 108 (11) Archived 1 November 2018 at the Wayback Machine Hawaiian Historical Society (accessdate 31 July 2016)
- ^ A Brief History of Buildings That Spin Archived 17 June 2018 at the Wayback Machine Anthony Paletta, Gizmodo (accessdate 31 July 2016)
- ^ A Moveable Feast: A Brief History of the Revolving Restaurant Archived 22 August 2016 at the Wayback Machine J S Graboyes, Duckpie (accessdate 31 July 2016)
- ^ Revolving Restaurants in the Americas Archived 6 August 2016 at the Wayback Machine Phil Dotree, Interesting America (accessdate 31 July 2016)
- ^ Pie in the skies – revolving restaurants Archived 5 June 2016 at the Wayback Machine Jan Whitaker, Restaurant-ing through History (accessdate 31 July 2016)
- ^ Towering Ties Archived 9 August 2016 at the Wayback Machine Briale Morand (accessdate 31 July 2016)
- ^ patent Graham 1964 Archived 6 August 2016 at the Wayback Machine Google patents (accessdate 31 July 2016)
- ^ Kato, Nicole (November 11, 2012). "Top of Waikiki". Honolulu Star-Advertiser. Archived from the original on November 20, 2018. Retrieved November 20, 2018.
