Approximately 7,600 sq. ft. of Dri-Design wall panels were used on the façade of Royal Caribbean Cruises’ third and largest customer service center in Springfield, OR. The .080” aluminum panels were finished with a Bone White PVDF paint and provided in a variety of custom sizes.
The patented Dri-Design Wall Panel System is an affordable dry joint, pressure-equalized rainscreen system.
Towering over the entrance to the 162,000 sq. ft. facility is a 62 ft., 13.25-ton steel structure that emulates the mast of a ship. Other cruise ship design features include porthole windows and a wave-style roof. The Bone White metal wall panels, in conjunction with green tinted glass, contribute to the nautical theme by symbolizing white-capping ocean waves, said George Ehrich of Integrated Architecture, Grand Rapids, MI.
According to Ehrich, the overall design concept resulted from the vision of Russ Bogue, director of global facilities and properties for Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. “We just made it happen,” Ehrich said. “Russ, who is also an architect, was the major force in the preliminary design.”
But it was Ehrich who specified the use of Dri-Design. “The design originally called for using an aluminum composite material but that proved to be too expensive. We’ve used Dri-Design on several previous projects and found that it always offers a great value. And we were still able to achieve the design we wanted,” reports Ehrich. “We fine-tuned Dri-Design’s standard joining details at the corners to get a finished look that really turned out nice.”
The general contractor on the project was Workstage, LLC, Grand Rapids, MI. According to a case study prepared by Workstage, the design and construction team came together with a single goal in mind—to create an inspiring workplace for the employees of Royal Caribbean and to reduce the impact of the building on the environment. The project didn’t come without challenges, however. Along with an extremely tight schedule and more than 50 inches of rain, the construction team had to follow the strict guidelines of LEED Certification.
The facility has been awarded LEED Gold Certification from the U.S. Green Building Council. for green sustainable buildings. The building is one of only a dozen or so in Oregon to have attained such a ranking. Nationwide, only about 25% of the projects submitted for LEED certification achieve the Gold ranking. Royal Caribbean has designed an interpretive exhibit in the building that explains its approach to LEED certification and the benefits of its design approach.