Have you ever watched The Pirates of Caribbean movies? If you have watched it, maybe you will get carried away by the pirate’s city atmosphere through that movie. So, does the pirate’s city exist? The answer is absolutely yes because you can discover it in Grand Cayman. Grand Cayman is part of Cayman Island that will grant you the circumstances of the pirate city. Moreover, Grand Cayman has a great bizzare traditional architecture style named Cayman-style. Cayman-style adapted to the Caribbean’s environment. Then, to understand more about Cayman style.
Here are 15 places to visit in grand Cayman for the travelling architect:
1. Port of George Town
This is the first place when you just arrived at Grand Cayman by vessel. Port of George Town is surrounded by historical Cayman-style buildings. There are a lot of coffee shops, bars, shopping malls, and souvenirs stores with the same typology but in a different color. The buildings are one to two-level with triangular roofs that face directly to the road and pedestrians. And to reduce the heat of sunlight, each building makes an overhanging roof.
2. Pedro St. James
This castle was built in 1780 for government purposes such as a court, jail, and even restaurant. Pedro St. James Castle also known as the oldest building in Cayman Island. Nowadays, this building changes to display a living history of Cayman Island. The architectural character of this building is the use of wood materials and 18-inch-thick stone walls. So that this building can withstand hurricanes and fire.
3. Mission House, Bodden Town
Mission House is a traditional house of Cayman island that was built in the 1700s for missionaries’ residence in Bodden Town. Besides Pedro St. James Castle, this building is also one of the oldest residences in Cayman. The facade of the building indicates Cayman-style. This house has a stage structure to prevent a flood and staircase to reach the first floor. Then, Mission House uses wood planks for its walls and roof. The application of wood can reduce solar heating in the building.
4. Powell’s Museum and Heritage Kitchen
Another Cayman Style that was marvelous is Powell’s Museum and Craft Shop. This small house was built in 1990 by Bernard Tony Powell. The blue and yellow color of this shop indicates a traditional Caymanian house. This shop sells artifacts taken every Pirates Week on Heritage Day in West Bay. This small museum provides memorabilia of Cayman Island. At the back of Powell’s Museum, there are other blue houses, Heritage Kitchen, a small cottage. Heritage kitchen provides you so many dishes with the beach atmosphere.
5. National Gallery of the Cayman Island
The National Gallery of Cayman Island has a modern architecture style fused with a Cayman-style traditional house. Its color is white indicating the cleanliness of Cayman’s seawater. There are so many areas that give you a lot of erudition about art and crafts such as the sculpture garden, the art cafe, the library, and the dart auditorium.
6. Cayman Island National Museum
The first time you notice this building, Cayman-style architecture immediately appears in your mind. As the Cayman Island National Museum, it has a red roof and wood plank walls. In front of the building, there is a fence that symbolizes the traditional house of Cayman. This building has thick walls for military purposes in the 18th century. Now, this museum grants a lot of local artifacts and knowledge about Cayman.
7. The Peace Memorial Town Hall
Located in George Town, the capital city of Grand Cayman, was built in 1919. This building is one of the historical buildings in Cayman. Nowadays, The Peace Memorial Town Hall is used for government purposes and open for public areas. Moreover, Cayman-style put into its facade with a horizontal order of wood-plank. Also, it has a terrace to reduce direct solar radiation.
8. The George Town Library
This building was built in 1939 by Capt. RayalBodden and Capt. Rolland Bodden. Now, The George Town Library is a preserved building because of its memorable importance and architectural style. The design of its ceiling intimates an inverted ship’s hull. In 2009, this library combined several public areas such as children’s services and computer rooms.
9. Cayman Island Post Office
Another Capt Royal Bodden’s design in Grand Cayman is George Town Post Office. Its facade has art deco tapered columns and extensive grooved character. Furthermore, Bodden gave a rustic style with handmade concrete blocks. Because of the different structure of the building, George Town Post Office is now a cultural heritage building that can present historical erudition in Cayman.
10. Elmslie Church
Captain RayalBodden was known as an architect who could construct marine architectural styles in Grand Cayman. Not only developed libraries and post offices, but also Elmslie Church. Captain RayalBodden used shipbuilding skills into the roof design of Elmslie United Church. He chooses to flip hull structures at any time to create unprecedented building structures.
11. Wyndham Reef Resort
This luxurious resort is located in the East End of Grand Cayman. The buildings’ orientation leads to the sea. This place provides you scuba diving and beach viewing. All of the buildings put Cayman-style into its facade. You can see that the blue roof and yellow walls fuse with the circumstances of the site.
12. Catboat Club Building
Another building uses Cayman-style in George Town that serves as a place for the catboat club association. This building implemented a wood plank for its walls and light blue color. There is a staircase in front of the building to reach its first floor. This building has a stage structure to prevent sea waves on the beach.
13. The Paseo in Camana Bay
The Paseo is a building which is surrounded by a traditional place of Grand Cayman. We can spend our time at a holiday market, annual tree lighting, bazaar, and so on. The landscape has a new urbanism development style with quality of wellbeing. Furthermore, we can walk throughout this place easily because of its walkability street. The palm trees used to be shade-providing canopies for a natural cooler in the building. The building and the landscape merge perfectly with its good lighting.
14. The Harquail Theater
The Harquail Theater is a cultural theater that presents the history of Grand Cayman. This building was designed by John Doak, a well-known architect in Cayman. John Doak established Cayman-style with a modern-minimalist style into its facade. The blue roof symbolizes the sea of Grand Cayman. Nowadays, this building is used for public theater that performs drama and cultural development in Cayman.
15. The Casa J House
This house was built in 2011 by John Doak. He built a Spanish Mediterranean style home fuse with Cayman-style. The staircase in front of the house is the implementation of Cayman-style. Then, the roof’s form is the implementation of the Mediterranean style. John Doak mixes both styles perfectly and adjusts to the climate of Grand Cayman.
From all explanations about 15 best places the architect must visit in Grand Cayman, we can conclude that Cayman-style is bizarre. There are so many buildingsput Cayman-style fuses with climate adaptation and other styles. There are Captain Royal Bodden who designed preserved buildings and John Doak who is well-known as the ablest architect in Grand Cayman. Furthermore, Cayman-style usually put a staircase in front of the building and wood plank walls on its facade. Then, sometimes it has a cross-shaped fence to dispense the traditionality of Cayman. So, do you want to visit the city of pirates? Grand Cayman awaits on your itinerary.
