Since its formation in 1919, the mission of Sea Scouts has remained unchanged. High adventure aquatic activities and nautical education are offered by the Boy Scouts of America’s Sea Scout program to introduce youth to leadership, teamwork, and citizenship, while fostering marine and nature studies.
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New Facility
Recently, as a part of expansion of services and capabilities, the Sea Scouts opened a new facility costing $40 million on the Galveston Island in Texas. The facility with a 50-slip marina is spread over 10 acres and contains eco-friendly gardens, foot paths, and a pool to accommodate the expected 20,000 visitors per year.
The facility is located opposite Moody Gardens, which is a well-known tourist and educational destination on the island where Strongwell had installed custom fiberglass reinforced polymer (FRP) ADA-compliant handrails in 2003.
The new facility of Sea Scouts differs from most of the buildings in its vicinity as it has vertical stair towers and exterior circulation corridors to provide open views from all areas of the structure, encouraging people to experience the facility outdoors. The structure was designed to provide adequate protection from category IV hurricanes, including the building’s doors and windows.
Technical Details
To protect the scenic views, FRP was chosen to provide a structural perimeter louvered wall system. While the wall serves as a structural perimeter, it also acts as a shade while simultaneously allowing natural light to pass through the corridors.
The louvered walls consist of EXTREN® 8" wide flange beams, 6" channels, and 8" custom louvers. Due to its better performance in the corrosive coastal conditions, better UV performance, and lighter weight, FRP was chosen over other traditional materials such as metal and wood. As the facility was pursing a LEED Platinum certification, most of the areas and grounds had to have a minimum amount of maintenance.
| Technical Data |
| Product |
Structural Perimeter Louvered Wall |
| Process |
Pultusion |
| Materials |
EXTREN® |
| Sizes |
8" Wide Flange Beams, 6" channels, 8" custom louvers |
| For |
Jacob White Construction Co. |
| User |
Sea Scout Base Galveston |
Advantages
Of the 24 LEED Platinum certified projects in Texas, three were constructed by Jacob White Construction, who is also in charge of the maintenance of the new Sea Scouts facility. As the construction company wanted to achieve LEED Platinum certification for this 70,000-square foot building too, it built community rooms, dorms, and meeting areas to provide high-end research and educational facilities for its guests.
The extensive amount of FRP use for this project is expected to offer several years of valuable and continuous service with little or no maintenance in order to guarantee a long life to the building.
This information has been sourced, reviewed and adapted from materials provided by Strongwell Corporation.
For more information on this source, please visit Strongwell Corporation.