To keep its Miami employees rowing in the same direction, Royal Caribbean recently unveiled plans for a 350,000 SF headquarters building. To be located on the company’s campus on Dodge Island, the headquarters structure is meant to bring together employees who are working in its Miami office spaces.
The building’s design is inspired by the design of its fleet of cruise ships—with flowing lines.
“Informed by the modern design and playful nature of Royal Caribbean’s ships, the building flows up from the water’s edge,” says Kenneth Drucker, FAIA, LEED AP, design principal at HOK. “The undulating facade and terraces eventually culminate in a three-level garden atrium space. This volumetric outdoor space brings the healing power of nature right into the heart of the building, reinforcing Royal Caribbean’s commitment to wellness.”
The edge of each floor will extend out to create horizontal shading canopies. Terraces that face downtown Miami will be situated within the rooftop sky garden—which itself will be set around the executive floor, at the southeast corner of the building, overlooking the ocean.
Created with a curvilinear form, the headquarters building will be showcased at night by LED lighting. The modernistic building will be located close to the cruise terminals and ships in Biscayne Bay.
See Also: Yeti’s new global headquarters evokes the outdoors
The building will be boomerang-shaped, a design that will enable more daylight to enter further into the building. The structure will include offices, an auditorium, cafeteria, and training rooms. The top floor will house an executive suite and event space.
A parking structure that is planned to sit adjacent to the headquarters will include unique features. Atop the parking garage, the soft thud of players kicking balls will be heard across a soccer field, the squeals of athletic shoes will resound from basketball courts, and around it, joggers will jog laps on a running track. The development will be set amidst a greener campus, with less asphalt, in a courtyard with native plants and walking paths.
The headquarters design is being done by HOK. In addition to performing interior design and architecture for the project, HOK is leading master planning, sustainability consulting, experience design, lighting design, and structural engineering.
The design factors in the local environment in common-sense ways. It accounts for both expected and temporary sea level rises in Miami. By raising part of the building well above sea level, a structural contingency is in place, should flooding occur. The lobby will sit more than 15 feet above sea level; some mechanical systems will be situated in a mezzanine level, 20 feet above sea level.
Related Stories
| Jun 16, 2014
6 U.S. cities at the forefront of innovation districts
A new Brookings Institution study records the emergence of “competitive places that are also cool spaces.”
| Jun 12, 2014
Tod Williams Billie Tsien Architects' design selected for new UCSC facility
The planned site is a natural landscape among redwood trees with views over Monterey Bay, a site that the architects have called “one of the most beautiful they have ever worked on.”
| Jun 12, 2014
Austrian university develops 'inflatable' concrete dome method
Constructing a concrete dome is a costly process, but this may change soon. A team from the Vienna University of Technology has developed a method that allows concrete domes to form with the use of air and steel cables instead of expensive, timber supporting structures.
| Jun 11, 2014
Bill signing signals approval to revitalize New Orleans’ convention center corridor
A plan to revitalize New Orleans' Convention Center moves forward after Louisiana governor signs bill.
| Jun 11, 2014
5 ways Herman Miller's new office concept rethinks the traditional workplace
Today's technologies allow us to work anywhere. So why come to an office at all? Herman Miller has an answer.
| Jun 10, 2014
Built-in balcony: New skylight windows can fold out to create a patio
Roof window manufacturer Fakro offers a skylight window system that quickly converts into an open-air balcony.
| Jun 9, 2014
Green Building Initiative launches Green Globes for Sustainable Interiors program
The new program focuses exclusively on the sustainable design and construction of interior spaces in nonresidential buildings and can be pursued by both building owners and individual lessees of commercial spaces.
Smart Buildings | Jun 8, 2014
Big Data: How one city took control of its facility assets with data
Over the past few years, Buffalo has developed a cutting-edge facility management program to ensure it's utilizing its facilities and operations as efficiently, effectively, and sustainably as possible.
| Jun 6, 2014
KPF, Kevin Roche unveil design for 51-story Hudson Yards tower in NYC [slideshow]
Related Companies and Oxford Properties Group are teaming to develop Fifty Five Hudson Yards, the latest addition to the commercial office tower collection in the 28-acre Hudson Yards development—the largest private real estate development in the history of the U.S.
| Jun 3, 2014
Libeskind's latest skyscraper breaks ground in the Philippines
The Century Spire, Daniel Libeskind's latest project, has just broken ground in Century City, southwest of Manila. It is meant to accommodate apartments and offices.
