The Ritz-Carlton name is synonymous with quality. And it was with quality in mind that Wimberly Allison Tong & Goo (WATG) of New York City picked metal roofing from Englert Inc. for its design of the $500 million Ritz-Carlton, Grand Cayman in the Cayman Islands.

The hotel is situated on 144 acres of land spanning sea to sea from the widest stretch of Seven Mile Beach to the North Sound. The resort’s architecture blends the Caribbean landscape with features of timeless British Colonial architecture. Highlights of the design include ivory-colored buildings topped with Sandstone-colored metal roofing.

Until recently, the building code on the island on which the hotel was built limited the height of new buildings to five stories. It was amended to seven stories and that’s how tall the Ritz Carlton is. The Englert metal roofing was chosen for the project for its combination of benefits, including beauty, fire resistance and wind uplift rating. And its ability to stay put in a storm was tested even before the project was completed as Hurricane Ivan swept across the island, packing winds of more than 150 mph. Nearly 90% of the roofs on the island were torn away while the panels installed on the hotel stayed firmly in place. Not a single roofing panel was lost to the storm.

The Englert Series 2500 standing seam panel system used on the hotel was subsequently selected by many island homeowners in the storm’s aftermath. Those panels are 16” wide with 2”-high mechanically locked seams. They were formed from .040” aluminum. The more than 120,000 sq. ft. of panels were fabricated and installed by Watler Metal Products of Grand Cayman.

In addition to 365 rooms and suites, the hotel boasts 13,000 sq. ft. of meeting space and the island's largest ballroom. The resort has a Tiffany & Co. boutique, a full-service beauty salon, a fitness center and two swimming pools. The hotel staff numbers nearly 1,000, representing more than 40 countries.