4112 NE 1 AV - MIAMI DESIGN DISTRICT

Miami, FL, United States

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45 NE 41 ST MIAMI DESIGN DISTRICT

4112 NE 1 AV - MIAMI DESIGN DISTRICT

Miami, FL, United States

Firm

Royal Byckovas

Type

Commercial › Retail

STATUS

Built

YEAR

2021

SIZE

5000 sqft - 10,000 sqft

BUDGET

$1M - 5M

Blu Dot’s flagship store in the Miami Design District elegantly stages their latest furniture collections and accessories behind a 3 story, 58’ tall glass veil.

This building acts is an intermediary between the burgeoning retail district to the south and the Buena Vista East Historical Neighborhood enclave to the north. This delicate urban condition required an architectural solution that at once served the commercial ambition of the developer and the sensitivities of the residential community.

To trestle such a contextual middle ground of two divergent urban conditions, various volumetric studies were tested to determine a suitable form for the building.

Through site observations and discussions with the neighborhood association, a series of architectural solutions to enhance the project were explored. Under the Miami 21 zoning code, the status quo would be to erect a conventional 45’ tall, volume and setback 5’ from the north property line.

The resultant shadow cast onto the adjacent residence was certainly a development impact, one that we aimed to to mitigate.

Ultimately, a simple, pitched roof building was deemed a sensitive transition between the

commercial and residential districts and a form that mitigated the shadow impact on the adjacent residence.

Throughout the year, as demonstrated with solar animations, the resulting architectural form allowed more direct light into the adjacent lot while reducing the perceived scale of the proposed building to that of the lower scale residential neighborhood.

Conversely, the visual mass of the building when experienced from the public zone is very different. The gabled curtain wall facade set within a cast in place concrete frame, harmonizes with the scale and materiality of other commercial buildings in the Design District.

The resultant architectural duality expressed by the gable and pitched roof forms, manifest a distinctive design compromise between two disparate, uniquely urban conditions.