Historic Falmouth Cruise Ship Port, Jamaica
Royal Caribbean goes with Brandywine Hardware

Brandywine Hardware custom designed and forged
to withstand and protect from hurricanes

Brandywine Forge recently fabricated hardware to hang and lock a large number of really big functional doors for the Royal Caribbean cruise terminal in Historic Falmouth, Jamaica. The structures on the wharf are new construction built in the style of 18th century British architecture. Considering the size of the openings - 12' high by 8' to 14' wide - and the hurricane winds that hit the north shore of the island, defining a heavy strap hinge and masonry pintle configuration that would withstand the weight and stresses was an important aspect of the project.

The new structures are poured concrete with brick & limestone façade, so we looked to the historic examples of similar large doors and heavy 18th century hardware in the Caribbean. 

We based the pintle design and installation on the 18th century ocean-side warehouses of Charlotte Amalie on the island of Saint Thomas. That massive historic hardware has held those similar doors through more than two hundred years of hurricanes in the islands. Good enough reason to follow the early approach.

We designed pintle anchor plates to work with the contemporary construction and buried them behind the masonry façade. The installation approach satisfies the historic requirements of the project and keeps Valdi Guðjónsson, my favorite structural engineer, more than satisfied with the resultant math.

The hinges and pintles hold and swing the doors. When the big winds blow, it's the heavy hurricane head and foot bolts that keep the doors securely locked. With 4" thick doors, the hardware has to be massive to handle the stress and is a big part of the visual package.