A Grand Gesture

An Ultra-Contemporary beach house in the Cayman Islands makes a bold statement and becomes an Architechtural landmark.

- J. Michael Welton

OUT ON THE ROUGH-AND-TUMBLE NORTH SIDE of Grand Cayman Island in the Western Caribbean stands an uber modern vacation home that’s been designed and built to endure the test of time and hurricanes alike.

Perched on one of the island’s most sought-after shorelines, Camden House at Rum Point is the winner of an international competition as well as a successful collaboration between clients and architect, both hailing from the United Kingdom.

First, the competition: husband-and-wife clients Vidal Brewer and Lisa Munday drew up a detailed design brief for a vacation home and sent it off to three architects – one in Spain, one in America and one to Nicolas Tye, an award-winning and highly regarded designer of bespoke homes in England.

The clients wanted to make a bold statement and create an eye-catching architectural landmark.

“Initially, we didn’t think Nic would be bold enough, but once he got started, he was,” Munday says. “When weighing whom to go with, it was apparent that he would be a very positive person to work with, and he took the design well beyond our expectations.”

The architect did that in a number of ways. At the concept stage, he initiated a visit to the island, to the site and to local government officials for discussions about the building and its construction.

He had already developed a killer design for the chalk-white and very contemporary structure – one that not only complements the vibrant sand on the beach but that seems to grow straight up out of it. His determination and design won the day.

“We were lucky,” says Tye. “Because we had the drive to go out and see it, the client wanted us to take it up to construction, and they obviously loved it because it remains the same concept.”