Creating a Visual Voyage

Update the façade of Celebrity Cruises Port Everglades terminal. The port is one of the top three cruise ports in the world and among the most active containerized cargo ports in the U.S. In 2018, Celebrity Cruises unveiled a renovated Terminal 25 (T25), its first brand-designed cruise terminal located within the port.

A combined 2300 sq. ft. of GKD Media-mesh and 800 sq. ft. of Tigris metal fabric were specified to fulfill this vision. 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. The idea was to have Mediamesh display a simple PSA or advertising messages from the interior portion of the port. It was also entertained to have the Mediamesh serve a similar function outside of the building. According to Andy Franks, regional sales manager, GKD Metal Fabrics, the major task was communicating with the architects to understand their vision, and being able to provide an elevated product that also served a purpose.

The marriage of high-end architectural design and digital media combine 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.

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,” said Mike Leonard, Technical Director of Mediamesh Systems with GKD Metal Fabrics. “Creating an architectural media façade 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.”

To create efficiencies during the tight construction window, GKD was able to speed up the design process through 3D modeling to ensure everything was manufactured correctly.