January 2010
Regardless of where our teams are located, Halcrow Yolles is committed to leaving lasting, sustainable legacies in the communities where we live and work. The team in the Cayman Islands office is demonstrating their commitment through ongoing involvement in the effort to save the unique and endangered Blue Iguana.
The firm has been working closely with the Blue Iguana Recovery Programme (BIRP), a partnership of local and international conservation groups, to quickly restore a viable population of the Blues to the wild and to ensure the survival of what was, at one time, the most endangered rock iguana species in the world.
A donation in kind, Halcrow Yolles’ efforts have involved finding an innovative solution to the problems encountered by the BIRP in the design and creation of a larger retreat for the reptile. The previous shelters, built by the BIRP in 2002, were made of wood and had quickly deteriorated in Cayman’s humid tropical climate. Fred Burton, the Director of BIRP, originally approached Halcrow Yolles for ideas on alternative materials for a new shelter prototype.
The material had to be resilient, had to be as light as possible as the shelters needed to be carried by hand into the densely vegetated dry scrubland, and had to be as economical as possible. In addition, the material selected needed to support the requirement that the shelters be able to be mass produced. Given the inherent geometrical strength of the shelter structure, unreinforced latex modified grout was recommended as the best solution. Our relationships with the material supplier also resulted in their generous agreement to provide the necessary material for a fraction of the commercial costs.
In addition to its role in developing and building the new shelter, the team in the Cayman Islands is also standing by to provide structural engineering services for the EU-funded project to build a visitors’ centre when work on the project begins.