Aptly named Florida’s “powerhouse port,” Port Everglades in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., represents one of the most diverse seaports in the U.S. The port is located on the southeast coast of the Florida peninsula and is one of the top three cruise ports in the world. Additionally, it is among the most active containerized cargo ports in the U.S. and is South Florida’s main seaport for petroleum products like gasoline and jet fuel.
Mediamesh highlights Celebrity Cruises’ Terminal 25 at Port Everglades
In 2018, Celebrity Cruises unveiled a renovated Terminal 25 (T25), its first brand-designed cruise terminal located within Port Everglades. At the helm of the renovation was architects Bermello Ajamil & Partners Inc., Miami, with the vision of creating a visual voyage for those waiting to embark.
Part of this vision included a combined 2,300 square feet of Cambridge, Md.-based GKD Metal Fabric’s Mediamesh and 800 square feet of Tigris metal fabric. When being introduced to the project, GKD was selected in part for their ability to produce a product that achieved the aesthetic vision but was also functional.
Mediamesh
The idea was to have Mediamesh display a simple public service announcement or advertising messages from the interior portion of the port. Mediamesh was also used for signage outside the terminal. Mediamesh was chosen because of its versatility and ability to provide a high architectural quality along with digital messaging and advertising.
“Our role begins with my relationships with the architects,” says Andy Franks, regional sales manager, GKD Metal Fabrics. “In this case, it was communicating with Bermello Ajamil & Partners to understand their vision of being able to provide an elevated product that also served a purpose.”
The marriage of high-end architectural design and digital media combines to provide a transparent LED façade, capable of displaying anything—from branding graphics to video, live broadcast feeds to conceptual art. The metal fabric features a patented system of LED modules, which are interwoven into the robust stainless steel metal fabric.
The LED aspect of Mediamesh allows for unlimited message delivery options. Messages can quickly be substituted, allowing for news or weather. Being on the Florida coast, T25 would quickly benefit from providing up-to-date weather conditions, arrival times and more to visitors.
Installation
Once Mediamesh was determined for the renovation, GKD immediately faced a challenging situation. The construction schedule was one year, a very tight window for two Mediamesh projects of that scale. The contractors had to demo the terminal, remove all mechanical equipment and completely rebuild the entire building.
“When dealing with Mediamesh, regardless of the size of the screen, there is a great deal of back-end work and coordination that has to be done,” says Mike Leonard, technical director of Mediamesh systems with GKD Metal Fabrics.
“Creating an architectural media fa.ade requires more than half of the components to be integrated into the architecture. Considering the extremely brutal environment of South Florida, we had to take serious additional considerations in the designs and integration of our product.”
The site logistics play a major role in those two areas. As a result, Leonard spent a considerable amount of time on-site to support what the contractor was trying to accomplish with the master schedule.
3-D Engineering
To create efficiencies during the tight construction window, GKD was able to speed up the design process through 3-D modeling to ensure everything was manufactured correctly.
“We created 3-D models of the entire exterior installation to coordinate as-built measurements with our designs,” says Leonard. “This ensured every part and component of the screen was completely engineered in 3-D prior to being built out.”
This upfront engineering led to zero interference in the screen installation process, leading to no costly delays during the tight construction schedule. The pre-construction coordinating created a zero interference environment, expediting the installation.
GKD also kept an installation manager on-site throughout the entire process (which was roughly four weeks) to ensure, no matter what, that someone was there to manage both interior and exterior Mediamesh installations.
Renovation Success
T25 represents a new standard in a luxury cruise line port. To help its renovation be successful, GKD implemented a large amount of early design work and coordination with architects and contractors to ensure all needs were met and all delays avoided.
Now when visitors enter the T25 they’re greeted with the dynamic communications medium that is Mediamesh. Whether the message is helpful weather information, news updates or creative advertising the output is a clean, informational viewing experience.
Josh Bradley is the marketing director for GKD-USA, based in Cambridge, Md. Bradley is responsible for development and execution of integrated marketing communications plans for the GKD Metal Fabrics product portfolio. To learn more, visit www.gkdmetalfabrics.com.