This boutique condominium is our response to the particular site location, with canals along the front and back that expose the building as a stand-alone sculptural object in a series, and to the stringent open air and landscaped area requirements of the zoning ordinance that encourage a very compact solution. It also takes advantage of the most attractive views towards the East, overlooking the outer isles of Fort Lauderdale and the Ocean, and the West, facing downtown.

The Ground Floor optimizes the parking garage with a single ingress/egress driveway along the center of the lot, and allocates the tight vertical circulation core towards the middle of the site. This allows the differing apartment layouts on the upper floors to wrap around that central nucleus, achieving either 180-or 360-degree units with ample windows on the front and back facades. A distinct pedestrian entrance offers access to the Lobby, and from there to the Swimming Pool deck and private Marina beyond, on Río Grande Canal. Six luxurious apartments spread over the Second through Fourth Floors, whereas the Fifth one is occupied by a sprawling penthouse covering the whole floorplate. A private rooftop terrace with Jacuzzi and Sun deck provides matching outdoor space to the top unit, via a floating spiral stairway.

The desire to maximize views to the canals created a tension with their unfavorable solar orientation, which demanded deep balconies, overhangs, and vertical elements for fenestration shading. On the side facades the opposite was true, as the proximity of present and future neighbors demanded more solid, privacy-affording surfaces. As it turns out, we mashed both differing goals into a single continuum that would fold and bend back between floors, leaving the more open but deep ends to the front and back and the solid bends to the sides. The zoning ordinance’s requirement to maximize daylight onto side yards prompted our rounding up of the continuum bends, to reduce shadows on the yard and neighboring property to the North. In so doing, it conveyed a smooth, graceful profile to the structure: a stark big gesture in the outward appearance of the building that defines character and branding.