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April 2014 | Boating Industry | 29 [ Shifting Marina Design Trends ] www.BoatingIndustry.com that specializes in the marine industry to up- grade an existing marina or build a new facility from scratch. High-end goes mainstream Roxie Comstock is the manager of business enhancement at Bellingham Marine Industries' American headquarters in Washington State, a marina design-build firm that also manufactures dry storage and concrete dock systems. The company's design-build approach — where one company handles design and con- struction to save time and resources — allows Bellingham to compete with other contractors, designers and builders that don't have a similar depth of marine experience. Bellingham bills its floating concrete docks as the greenest system in the industry, and has used its expertise to streamline marina designs and dock projects for its clients. As the gradual economic recovery filters into the marine industry, the company has noticed an uptick in marinas renovating their facilities, as well as embarking on entirely new "greenfield" construction. Comstock said Florida and the Northeast have recently been particularly strong. "We've had a couple of greenfield projects come online and were finished up recently, which is a pretty good indicator of the health of things," she said. "Once brand-new marinas are starting to be built again, it's a sign that things are starting to do better … and that's good along with all the other expansions, repairs [and] renovations." The uptick in business has exposed a few new trends in marina design. An overarching theme is higher quality construction, Comstock said, where upgraded finishes, richer materials and a higher attention to detail have become more prevalent in even municipally owned waterfront developments. "When it comes to the aesthetics, we're see- ing a lot of people inquiring about the texture or the color of concrete, rather than just the stan- dard," she said. "There's becoming more interest in a trim package, rather than doing the polymer covers that have typically been seen in marinas, they'll either do a hardwood cover or a compos- ite cover — so you have these concrete docks that, rather than just the base materials, are now being trimmed out in higher-end materials." She added that the trend mirrors what's hap- pening in custom homes, where many customers are willing to spend more to tailor the look of a project. Beyond upgraded finishes, marina bells and whistles have been including rounded dock ends, personalizing individual docks with the name of the owner or boat, color-coding docks, as well as accent lighting that's become more af- fordable with the drop in price for LEDs. Bellingham's recent work has also included projects that needed to be re-bid to meet bud- getary targets. In such cases, the company's de- sign-build approach and history with concrete construction allows its designers to be more ef- ficient with dock piling to minimize the amount of structural steel, reducing cost for the business or agency. "There are lots of little things where … we're able to go to the owner and … change this or tweak this, whether it be with the configuration of [the] slips or where you put your ADA slips or just little things that really add up in the end to be a more user-friendly marina for the users, but also a cost savings for the owner," Comstock said. Adding supplemental uses is another trend for marinas big and small that can be seen in new and upgraded projects across the globe. Many larger marinas have added spas, hotels and even housing, while many smaller marinas are adding restaurants, dry-stack storage and clubhouses to make their locations true destinations that en- courage its users to spend more time at the site. "A marina is hard to make pencil with boat slips alone — for the most part, they need an up- land business to support them," Comstock said. As an example, she said Bellingham's recent 220-slip Milltown Marina and Boatyard in Van- couver, British Columbia, is a smaller marina that elected to include storage and a clubhouse for additional revenue. Pier 32 Marina in National City, Calif., which uses Bellingham docks, installed unique kayak and bike racks on its docks, and installed a min- iature putting green, which Comstock said cre- ate an atmosphere that shows the marina cares about its customers and their possessions — while also appealing to a younger demographic. "It's a lot of little stuff that I see marinas are doing that don't cost a whole lot, and you could probably do it with what you have," she said. "You don't have to build a new building or [en- tail] a huge capital expense." East Coast expansion On the opposing side of the country, Marinetek North America is the American arm of the in- ternational Marinetek Group based in Helsinki, Finland. Marinetek NA is headquartered in St. Creative bike racks at Pier 32 add a touch of modernity with minimal expense. Concrete docks offer improved durability and style. Simply adding seating gives users a reason to spend time at the marina. P28x32-BI14APR-MarinaDesign.indd 29 3/13/14 4:30 PM