United States Headquarters
In 1964 the Company opened its new U.S. headquarters in Miami, Florida. Cuban-exiled architect Enrique Gutierrez created a building that was hurricane-proof, using a system of steel cables and pulleys which allow the building to move slightly in the event of a strong shock. The steel cables are anchored into the bedrock and extend through marble-covered shafts up to the top floor, where they are led over large pulleys. Outside, on both sides of the eight-story building, more than 28,000 tiles painted and fired by Brazilian artist Francisco Brennard, depicting abstract blue flowers, were placed on the walls according to the artist's exact specifications.
ln 1972, the Company commissioned the square building in the plaza. Architect Ignacio Carrera-Justiz used cantilevered construction, a style invented by Frank Lloyd Wright. Wright observed how well trees with taproots withstood hurricane force winds. The building, raised 47 feet off the ground around a central core, features four massive walls, made of sections of inch-thick hammered glass mural tapestries, designed and manufactured in France. The design came from a painting by German artist Johannes M. Dietz.
In 2006, Bacardi USA leased a 15-story headquarters complex in Coral Gables. Bacardi had employees in seven buildings across Miami-Dade County at the time.
Bacardi vacated its former headquarter buildings on Biscayne Boulevard in Midtown Miami. Miami citizens began a campaign to label the buildings as "historic". University of Miami professor of architecture Allan Schulman said "Miami's brand is it's identity as a tropical city. The Bacardi buildings are exactly the sort that resonate with our consciousness of what Miami is about". In 2007 Chad Oppenheim, the head of Oppenheim Architecture + Design, described the Bacardi buildings as "elegant, with a Modernist a local flavour."
The current America's headquarters is at 2701 LeJeune Road in Coral Gables. The 300 employees occupy 230,000 square feet (21,000 m2) of leased office space.
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