CasaMare - Stowaway Walls

Miami Beach, FL, United States

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CasaMare - Miele's Exceptional Kitchen of the Year (2013)

CasaMare - Stowaway Walls

Miami Beach, FL, United States

Firm

ALBERTO/ESTEBAN

Type

Residential › Private House

YEAR

2012

Esteban Cruces, of ALBERTO/ESTEBAN, designs a sleek minimalist interior for a modest two bedroom, two bath condominium in the luxurious South of 5th neighborhood of South Miami Beach. The designer takes an otherwise ordinary space plan, yielding cramped quarters and less than optimal views, and transforms it into the ultimate convertible beach pad.

At the core of the concept are the principles of openness and flexibility, two of the core tenets of an underlying theme evident in the duo's design work. Esteban sums it up simply by playfully referring to it as his House Convertible concept or ' Casa Convertible'. What he and his partner, Alberto Mizuno, ultimately proposed to their client was an open space plan concept that did away with all partitions along the length of the unit. But then went further to suggest that the walls separating the bedrooms themselves should likewise be removed, although not permanently, instead they'd be replaced with custom designed wooden partition panels that can be retracted and cleverly stowed away, becoming completely concealed behind minimally detailed custom millwork units.

The resulting fully open space plan concept was suddenly more than just open, it was that and yet a typical two bedroom, two-bath unit at the same time. The fact that the designers developed a custom retractable partition system allowed for the space to satisfy the definition, while simultaneously providing the desired flexibility.

Instead of leaving the u-shaped kitchen as a separate room, Esteban proposed moving the kitchen and all appliances to the north wall, in effect, opening up the entire unit from living room and outdoor terrace through to the rear guest bedroom space that doubles as a study. The panels enclosing the guest bedroom were also designed to retract into a neighboring storage unit, allowing the possibility of configuring the kitchen/living area into a grand florida room. This grand room boasts an uninterrupted east/west exposure that allows the ocean breeze to completely flow through the unit from end to end.

Material wise the unit showcases a minimal color palette: white surfaces, polished chrome, glass and wood. The unit features 36"x36" white glass floor tiles, exotic Indian Rosewood millwork throughout, Statuario marble island and bath, Starphire glass kitchen table, black smoke mirror accents, and subtle snow white venetian plaster throughout. All appliance and storage space has cleverly been incorporated into the expanse of custom millwork units designed to reclaim much of the dead space typical of conventional space plans.

The two remaining focal planes are the only walls left, and they're executed in stark contrast to one another. The south wall is an intricately designed and fully functional media/storage unit finished in Indian Rosewood. The unit's kitchen on the other hand, is executed as a plane in white lacquer, with its floor to ceiling Snaidero cabinets concealing top of the line Miele appliances. Both minimally articulated material planes play off each other, there is a certain harmony in their contrast, together they flank and frame the custom Statuario marble island and its suspended 10’ Starphire glass table adorned with Costantini Pietro club stools in white tufted leather. The ALBERTO/ESTEBAN designed L-shaped glass table is of solid glass construction, complete with laminated glass beams, and both top and bottom glass surfaces, creating a completely enclosed and air tight glass volume.

When entertaining, the unit can be converted into a linear hall flanked by white lacquer kitchen cabinets on the one side and a functional wall of Indian Rosewood on the other. Once all partitions are in place the focal island and living room are essentially enclosed and seemingly detached from the rest of the unit. The custom Indian Rosewood cabinets, with matching doors and faces, and their lack of visible hardware, completely conceal the existence of the separate rooms. The master bedroom sits just behind that wall, and takes full advantage of its easterly exposure, not only does it have direct patio access and ocean park views, it also looks onto the living room when in the open configuration and is completely concealed when closed.

BATHROOMS

The master bath is treated as an extension of the master suite, further elaborating on the open plan concept and allowing for ocean and park views while showering or freshening up. The master bathroom's vanity and shower are also finished in Statuario marble with glass and chrome accents, the closet units and separate water closet are finished in a combination of black smoke mirror with Indian Rosewood interiors, creating the illusion of sleek, black reflective jewel boxes illuminated by the subtle glow of ambient cove lighting. The enclosed shower in fact shares a laminated glass and smoke mirror surface, further opening up the space and bringing in the view outside, not to mention the other possible advantages that'd be facilitated by having a full frontal mirror in ones shower.

The master bathroom also features an ALBERTO/ESTEBAN designed dual sink/vanity unit custom made in Statuario marble with suspended glass towel shelf. Punctuating the Indian Rosewood wall just above the vanity are matching his and hers slide-up recessed Robern medicine cabinets.

The guest bath appears to be open and visible from the entry foyer, but in fact sits behind switchable privacy glass – a simple flick of the switch and the glass partitions become opaque in a steely gray hue. The guest bath's interior is finished with a black venetian plaster wall towards the rear, an adjacent black smoke mirror wall, and white lacquered wall panels with wall mounted Nameeks toilet and bidet. It also features a round floor-standing pedestal washstand from Alape, a Duravit freestanding hydro-therapy tub draped in charcoal sheer fabric with Aquabrass
floor-mounted tub and washbasin fillers.

Both bathrooms are complete with top of the line fixtures and accessories from Duravit, Dornbracht, Aquabrass, Nameeks, Gessi, Pom D’or and Robern, and both were designed to maximize views and reclaim lost space where ever possible. The use of the privacy glass in the guest bath for example eliminated the need for a typical partition, the gain in inches alone was enough to better allocate the spacing between bath fixtures, enhancing the
occupant's comfort and overall experience.

The primary design intent was to reclaim as much space as possible, specifically, the space lost within walls, nooks and crannies. This reclamation of space, of just mere square feet even, was achieved by way of removing all unnecessary partitions and replacing all aluminum studs with custom millwork units, taking cue from the term, 'wall unit', ALBERTO/ESTEBAN created walls out of fixed cabinetry replete with storage compartments accessible from both sides of the improved 'wall unit'. That simple design innovation itself added 33% more storage space to the unit than could have otherwise been achieved by conventional methods. Rather than having empty walls merely serve to delineate space we now have fixed wall units that, true to the term, serve as walls with storage. The main wall unit is finished in Indian Rosewood and comes complete with sound dampening chambers, low voltage wiring, air flow cavities, and built in thermostat activated ventilation systems for all electronics and appliances housed. This custom millwork marvel almost steels the spotlight from the glass island counter, finished in Indian Rosewood it reads as a rectangular monolith that not only divides the space visually but also intelligently. The walls are suddenly so much more, they now have real purpose and are more utilitarian in function.