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Oil Rig Resort


Urbannizer

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This may be the wrong area for this thread but..

While this may or may not fit your idea of the perfect luxurious destination hotel, you have to admit, the concept is an interesting one. In fact, the conceptual project won the Houston based architecture and design firm, Morris Architects, first prize at the Radical Innovation in Hospitality Awards. Perhaps best of all, you will not have to travel all the way to Dubai for your luxurious getaway, as Morris Architecture plans on using decommissioned oil rigs right here in the Gulf of Mexico for their high-end, self-sufficient, eco-friendly Oil Rig Resort and Spa.

"The challenge: Create a truly unique hospitality experience. Given Morris' commitment to environmental stewardship, our solution went beyond high-end design

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Very James Bond super-villain.

Hence the Bond cameo in one of the renderings. :P

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Doesn't seem much different than being on a cruise ship.

That's what I was thinking - a cruise ship on one of those trips that just circles out in the gulf for a few days and comes back. I think the cruise ship would have more things to do, too

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The cruise ship would use more fuel and hence be more expensive I guess...

Seems like a pretty cool idea to me if it was far enough out to get the nice clear waters while not being too far that people couldn't easily visit on pleasure boats or on a light ferry.

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I believe current US policy states that once a platform becomes decommissioned, it has to be removed within one year.

There is also the Rigs to Reef program that moves these rigs closer in and i assume together to become artificial reefs.. this is what has happened to about 10% of the Texas and Louisiana rigs.

These things are primarily built on land and hauled out there.. so there's no reason to think they cant be hauled back in to re-use or recycle for future rigs.

Regardless, they certainly aren't just abandoned out there for anyone to come in and put up a resort in its place, so this half-silly idea ( a cruise without the port-of-calls .. how fun ) doesn't seem to have any grip on reality.

Edit :

Seems only the very large and farthest out are allowed to be left in place...

decommissioning.gif

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I was thinking the same thing; a cruise ship but you don't go anywhere.

The idea is pretty cool though, especially along the Texas coast. The water is MUCH prettier in the Gulf of Mexico away from the coast. I've heard diving is pretty nice at some of these rigs.

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It's like a cruise ship except far less interesting. Cruise ships have ports of call where you go to do things. What are you going to do on a platform in the middle of the Gulf?

Is it in international waters? If so, I can think of a lot of things to do.

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I am actually amazed nobody has thought of this before. Think of all the awesome diving and fishing you could do right there. I have been on a few deep sea fishing trips off of Galveston and once you get about 6 miles out, the water is as clear as anything. And then about 10 miles out you can see a good 300ft down into the water. They could also be used for offshore bird watching get aways. I went on a deep sea birding trip also out of Corpus a few years ago and its amazing what kind of bird life there is out there. I paid big bucks to go see those birds because for an avid birder, you cant see them anywhere else except off in the deeper clearer waters. Heck, Id probably pay to stay out in one of those things for the fishing and birding opportunities alone.

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The rooms are awfully small for such a "luxurious" getaway. I'd be creeped out swimming out that far in the ocean. Maybe if I had a tube & string to make sure I didn't drift.

Edit:

Maybe I'm blind, but I can't see where the potty is in those rooms.

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^^ My thoughts exactly. It's a VERY cool idea, but how many times would they want to re-build it??? Once every 3 years? It's out over the open water, so any Hurricane that strikes it would likely be at its strongest point. This hotel would disintegrate into the ocean. At least with resorts on land, you have something to serve as a barrier, and something that can slow the hurricanes down.

We really don't need a repeat...

oztwisterbg.jpg?t=1238680704

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I posted on this concept a month or so ago but can't find it now. It caught my attention back then because the modules are identical to what I saw sitting in a friends storage yard earlier this year. They had two units open and at that time an assortment of visitors were looking at them. When I asked what they actually for he said alternative housing for Ike victims or so he thought. I wonder if they are a little farther along on this idea than they are saying.

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The insurance for that sort of facility would be prohibitively expensive. The first strong hurricane would likely destroy the hotel.

Don't oil rigs survive hurricanes? If they do, I think they could build a hotel to the same specs. It might not be as pretty, but it could last.

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Nice, this could a lot of mean work for me!I work for an offshore adjusting company.

Oil Rig, Platforms, Spars, Semi-Submersibles all get hit by hurricanes. Platforms have the worst record next to maybe Sea Star designs. They don't all survive. Air gap is key.

Peak season for this resort would be hurricane season. After the first hurricane moves through, there will be no more yachts, trees, docks, maybe even no more resort. Hope nobody is on there when it hits. Can you imagine the cost and number of helicopters required to evacuate say 200 people and 150 lbs of baggage each, say 4 times in one year?

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Don't oil rigs survive hurricanes? If they do, I think they could build a hotel to the same specs. It might not be as pretty, but it could last.

Not all of them. Shell's Mars platform, which is huge, had most of the topsides damaged, drilling rig knocked over, etc. I understand ExxonMobil built their platforms with more air gap above water, and had a better survival rate. Smaller platforms sometimes just disappear.

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This may be the wrong area for this thread but..

Abc13 at 10 did a report on this yeserday saying that its gaining alot of attention from developers and people from around the world, unfortunately I can't find it on their website. Can someone help?

http://abclocal.go.com/ktrk/story?section=...&id=6740226

http://advancedesignatmorris.com/

http://www.morrisarchitects.com

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  • 2 weeks later...
  • The title was changed to Oil Rig Resort

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