“The Lawn Club” Solstice of the Seas

Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines, International

Solstice will be the first cruise ship in the world to offer guests a genuine living lawn for recreational activities. Dubbed “The Lawn Club”, this multipurpose outdoor entertainment and recreation area includes a practice putting green that doubles as a croquet court and two grass bocce courts, all totaling 13,000 square feet of lawn. The Lawn Club also has an outdoor bar and patio where guests can observe game play or play on an oversize chess and checkers game board, also part of the Lawn Club experience. This ship is a prototype for three additional ships, which are planned for release at a rate of one per year after the inaugural Solstice vessel is completed.

Waterfield Design Group provided extensive feasibility studies for the lawn’s proof of Concept which included researching a variety of profiles, extensive lawn testing at the University of Florida at Fort Lauderdale, and design of the lawn area By researching various turf sections, Waterfield was able to come up with a lawn profile that satisfied the stringent requirements inherent with building a lawn on the top deck of a major ocean vessel. This project, just like our sister project Genesis, essentially became an exercise in designing a complex moving green roof. The lawn profile had to adhere to a strict weight requirement, resist over-compaction during heavy use by guests (the new ship has a capacity of 5,000 people) and be secured and safe enough to prevent sliding during listing or high winds. An incredibly short turnaround time between cruises requires that any turf replacement and maintenance be simple and quick, and that the lawn is able to be used almost immediately after the reinstallation of new pieces.