New Airport Design Poor

Recently, the Cayman Islands Airport Authority, CIAA, has been presenting to a series of local groups including CASE, the new design for the proposed updated Owen Roberts Terminal. The current design has been rejected by the Architectural community as poor and inappropriate for the terminal.

The proposal calls for the extension of the existing terminal on all sides as well as a significant extension upstairs to accomodate all of the programme requirements. The functionality of the new terminal seems to be okay however the 'pastiche' of over-scaled residential elements on the exterior was not accepted by CASE members as appropriate for a building of this scale especially as it is the first impression one will have of the Cayman Islands. The well known and liked “A” frames will be removed at the request of the current CIAA Board.

The proposed glazed jet-ways to the aircraft provide a bizarre contrast to the multi-coloured, segmented building. Undoubtedly, while appearing alien to the building, they will also be incredibly hot or very expensive to air-condition. The design will only accomodate 767 sized aircrafts. The interior "sketches" currently show local residential detailing in various areas.

No budget was given for the terminal that will include separate arrival and departure lounge for domestic and international passengers, as well as a very large departure lounge.

Government Office Accomodation Project

The Cayman Islands Government has issued a Design/Build tender for its new 200,000 square foot building in central George Town. The Building will contain the Executive branches of Government and sectors of Governments finance related departments and Authorities. Project budget is said to be in the CI$50M region.

Three Construction teams are vying for the tender however Government recently has had to offer a Stipend of CI$100,000 each to the two loosing bidders to ensure that all of the bidders remain in the running. It has been said that the extreme cost of preparing the tender exceeds the commercial risk that some were willing to take.

Bids are currently due in late April 2007 with completion of the building in fall of 2009.

New Walkers Office Building

Offshore & Local Law firm WALKERS announced its new office building recently and initial reviews by some in the local Architectural community have been critical, not only of the design but the fact that the firm went overseas to London based firms for services.

The design, which appears to be a warped or bent ( 'chamfered' )seven storey box with diagonal structural or 'aesthetic' members across its face, does not seem to be suitable for an island in the Caribbean. The face is puntuated by various rectangular windows giving an appearance of a crumpled computer programming card from the seventies. The building will contain a full height atrium to allow light to all internal spaces.

In the past the Planning Department and the Central Planning Authority have attempted to have building design make refrence to "local Design". That now appears to have gone aside and Pandoras box has been opened with this latest design.

New CASE Board

The Cayman Society of Architects, Surveyors and Engineers has elected a new Board at its Annual General Meeting held on February 15, 2006.

Heading the new Board as Chairman is Mr. Burns Conolly, AIA who is a noted Architect in the Cayman Islands and a past chairman of the Society. Mr. Sam Small, will act a Vice Chairman, Mr. Ali Sabti as Secretary and Mr Ian Bernard as Treasurer. Other board members are Mr. Paul Key, Mr. Eddie Thompson, Mr. Martin Tedd and Mr. Paul Phillips. Ms Cindy O'hara remains in the capacity of immediate Past Chairman.

Due to Hurricane Ivan and other factors the Society has not been able to function as well as it has in the past and there was much discussion during the out-going Chairman's remarks regarding the future of CASE. There was even a suggestion that CASE may have run its course and each profession may be at the stage to organize itself.

The incoming President promised to hold regular meetings and communicate with the members on a regular basis. He thanked the last Board for their efforts on behalf of the Society.

Ritz Carlton Finally Opens

The Ritz Carlton Hotel in Grand Cayman finally opened to business on December 15, 2005. The largest hotel and condominium complex in the Cayman Islands, which was delayed due to Planning Appeals, Contractor disputes and hurricane Ivan, has opened to generally favourable reviews.

Developer Michael Ryan was pleased to welcome the Governor, past and present Ministers of Tourism as well as other Government officials and Well Wishers to the ribbon cutting on opening day. While the Hotel is operable with Guests enjoying the Seven Mile Beach facility, many of the condominium Residences are still not complete and it is also obvious that some guest rooms need final touches. It is understood that these will be continuing to come online over the next several months.

While many believe that the austere exterior sand and buff colour scheme on such a large structure is too much for the Cayman Islands, the interior design is typical Ritz Carlton and well executed. The main function and public rooms are well outfitted and carry some local Caribbean themes in colour and the Artwork. The landscaping does require some improvement but one should take into account that it is recently planted. The staff appear to be well trained and anxious to assist.

It is understood that the operating portion of the Facility is fully sold out for the next three months.

Building Control Department Mess

The lack of resources in the Building Control Unit of the Planning Department has reached a crisis point.

While the Head of Department knew many months ago that the BCU workload being developed through the CPA was significant, it appears no effective move was made to fill the resource deficiency. Recent commercial projects have taken over 14 weeks to be reviewed, the worst seeming to be from the electrical section.

Minister of Planning, Mr. Kurt Tibbetts has just announced that private electricians will be volunteering to assist in plan reviews. It is understood that they will only be reviewing residential home applications, of which over 80% are returned the first time.
This return rate is indicative of the fact that the residential drawings are being prepared by non qualified persons with little or no subject knowledge or training.

A law requiring registration would no doubt assist in reducing this additional workload for the department but no Government to date has had the guts to propose a Registration Law that is inline with worldwide practices. So in Cayman, persons preparing Architectural, Engineering and Surveying works do not need to have any experience or training whatsoever.

Maybe this BCU blunder may cause someone to look at the Registration Law again with reason.

Camana Bay Moves Forward

The new Urbanist town named Camana Bay continues to grow in Grand Cayman as the first Block of Buildings rise from the ground. The photo on the right shows the new 85,000 square feet office tower under construction. Ernst & Young accountants, as well as the Camana Bay developers, will be anchor tenants. The first buildings come on line in late 2006.

Welcome

This site will hopefully spearhead a general and industry wide discussion on architecture in the Cayman Islands. It will follow and comment on proposals, designs and development in the Industry and related construction field. It will also provide web links to the most useful sites related to the local industry.

As the Islands now move into a new era of Architecture and Clients are begining to locally appreciate the 'value-added' benefits of using trained Architects, so too should the level of intellectual discussion and meaningful critic be elevated.

This site's intent is to assist in that process and be available for comments. Please feel free to post a comment on any story or email suggestions to the editor for potential inclusion.

A special feature of this site allows questions to the Editor regarding local Architecture and Construction issues.