Seems like there has been a lot of talk about the inferiority of the new construction buildings go up on Orient. Believe me I am not and do not claim to be an “Expert” on seismic/hurricane construction in the Caribbean but I have been in construction industry most of my life in fact I own a small Design-Build firm here in Michigan. So with that in mind here are my thoughts (for what it is worth) on this project:

I think we can all agree that the most hurricane resistant structure would be a square reinforced concrete bunker with thick walls and roof, very few windows, no doors, and no overhangs. But how much good is a building like that when you are trying to make the most out of a “Sea View”. With that being said there is also other type of construction and construction practices that can make a structure stronger and more storm resistant (notice I said resistant because if Mother Nature wants virtually any structure can be destroyed very quickly).

Some of the most critical design concerns are the shape of the building (each one these “pods” is actually fairly square in shape which is the strongest type), the building’s relationship with the ground (these buildings all have a very large and heavy reinforced concrete foundation), and the size (each unit appears to be pretty small, which is good), slope of the roof (these building are fairly low pitched, hip style roof which is the best other then flat), and proper connections between foundation, wall, and roof. See the pictures below for a few of the “hurricane” type of construction practices that I have noticed.












Now I am not guarantying that these buildings will last forever but I also understand that they were probably not designed for that “100 year” storm. They probably based their design on a 20 year scale with average wind speeds closer to a tropical storms or Category 1 hurricanes. Just my thoughts.