“Central Park” Oasis of the Seas / Allure of the Seas

Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines, International

Waterfield Design provided planning, space programming, design, and construction phase services for the development of the world’s largest floating festival marketplace and natural park.

Central Park is 22,000 sf. and robustly planted with an amazing variety of plants, trees, vines, flowers and aromaties. It took just under three years to design and build and cost $25 million. Central Park is one of the top features on Royal Caribbean's newest luxury liner, Oasis of the Seas. Oasis launched in December 2009 and is the largest cruise ship in the world, carrying 5,500 guests. The Park combines gardens and meandering paths with an upscale café retail scene. Boutique restaurants and stores open onto the Park, while guest rooms in the upper decks offer views down into the Park. A telescoping bar, outdoor life-size chess, performance space, and intimate garden seating encourage an atmosphere of people watching and outdoor promenading.

Waterfield provided planning, proof of concept analysis, and design including layout, grading & drainage, material selections, utilities coordination, and a tropical planting. plan This has required close construction coordination with the shipyard (in Turku, Finland) who built the $1.5 billion vessel, including a complex analysis of the underlying steel structure, and intense design coordination with the architects of the 8 venues that open into the Park. During our design process, we facilitated studies of solar accessibility, solar reflection impacts, wind impacts, evapo-transpiration, retail visibility and compatibility, fire safety, pedestrian circulation, open space programming, access restrictions, irrigation, life cycle, replacement logistics, and maintenance programming.