For more than 90 years, Broadway Pier in San Diego has been in service. Constructed in 1919, Broadway Pier has seen numerous ships from the U.S. Navy to the British ship Britannia after a visit from Queen Elizabeth in 1983. A new structure, Port Pavilion, was created to serve as a cruise ship terminal when the B Street Ship Terminal is accommodating two ships. Completed in 2010, the $19.7 million, 52,000-square-foot Port Pavilion measures 75 feet wide, 464 feet long and 55 feet tall.
“The new structure supplements the pre-existing B Street Terminal and adds a passenger facility with space for ticketing and baggage, as well as for U.S. Customs and Border Protection services,” says Adam Deaton with the building owner, San Diego Unified Port District, San Diego. “The terminal also is available for event rentals when not occupied by a ship.”
Key elements to the project included reflecting San Diego’s maritime tradition in the building, as well as creating a sustainable landmark. The building’s “saw tooth” roof is meant to represent boat sails and ocean waves, while a 60-foot pylon in front of the pavilion represents a ship cutting through water.
To further reflect the port’s maritime tradition, New York artist Leni Schwendinger of Leni Schwendinger Light Projects Ltd., created an exterior light sculpture entitled “Tidal Radiance.” During the day, the sculpture blends in nicely with the rest of the building’s architecture, but at night, a light garden of projections allow the sculpture to change colors from a deep blue reminiscent of the bay to warm amber. The light projections and the color reflect on the building changes according to the season.
Choosing Metal
Metal was chosen based on its sustainable characteristics and affordability as a design material. Saul Suarez, architect with Bermello Ajamil & Partners Inc., Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., notes: “The design team looked to create the lightest possible structure that could be erected on a 96-year-old pier, and also had to adhere to a tight construction budget. One of the initial design challenges was determining how to retrofit the existing concrete and steel pier structure to endure the forces of a seismic event, and then matching the same design constraints to the new terminal building.”
“The team determined that metal was the perfect solution for the project’s design and sustainability goals after carefully evaluating other materials,” Suarez observes. “Deciding factors included metal’s light weight, forgiving nature to possible seismic movements, the time-saving efforts of installing a finished material, and the minimal maintenance requirements that will be required over the next 20 years.”
The Pavilion features 28,000 square feet of Y-36 corrugated metal wall panels from Bristol, Conn.- based Morin Corp. finished in Jamaican Reef and Polar Flare Duranar VARI-Cool coatings from PPG Industries, Pittsburgh. Morin also supplied 30,000 square feet of F-12-2 smooth metal wall panels and 40,000 square feet of SLR-18 metal wall panels coated in PPG’s Duranar XL Plus in Regal White.
A World of Color 
Part of the charm of Port Pavilion is the multi-hued color scheme that defines the building. “From the beginning, the building’s corrugated metal wall panels were matched with color-shifting PPG Duranar VARICool coatings in blue-green Polar Flare and Jamaican Reef colors because of the unique reflection and appearance they provide,” says Suarez.
The coatings interact with the surrounding coastal environment, and Suarez notes the coatings accentuate angle changes in the metal panels, causing vibrations to the blue and green shades that are reflected from the waters of the bay. Depending on the viewer’s perspective and the light on the building, the coating changes from green to blue hues. This is the result of PPG combining pearlescent pigments with its VARI-Cool line with ULTRA-Cool infrared coating technology. In addition to the reflective color changing technology, the coatings help the building remain cool, reducing the heat island effect.
In relation to the coastal environment, metal runs the risk of corroding quickly over time, but PPG’s coatings help combat coastline wear and tear. PPG’s Duranar XL Plus coatings applied to the metal roof system are highly resistant to abrasion and peeling, so the bright colors that define the Port Pavilion are meant to last.
Gold Stars
The metal panels also played a significant role in the project achieving LEED Gold certification, as they contain recycled content and are 100 percent recyclable. Other sustainable features include a photovoltaic system installed by Sullivan Solar Power, San Diego, that will generate up to 14 percent of the building’s electrical needs; water efficient fixtures were installed to reduce water use by 20 percent; and 93 percent of the construction was diverted from landfills. The coatings selected for the project also meet cool roof requirements for LEED, California Title 24 and ASHRAE 90.1. Additionally, the building uses 42 percent less energy than the California Title 24 mandates.
Port Pavilion on Broadway Pier, San Diego
Owner: San Diego Unified Port District, San Diego
Architect: Bermello Ajamil & Partners Inc., Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.
General contractor: Jaynes Corp., San Diego
Metal installer: Challenger Sheet Metal, San Diego
Photovoltaic installer: Sullivan Solar Power, San Diego
Coatings: PPG Industries, Pittsburgh, www.ppgideascapes.com, Metal wall panels: Morin Corp., A Kingspan Group Company, Bristol, Conn., www.morincorp.com