Walking up to Eighty Seven Park in Miami Beach, the first U.S. residential development by Pritzker Prize-winning architect Renzo Piano – it is easy to be stunned by the structure – which seems to somehow hover above the surrounding park.

The Northernmost building on Miami Beach, Eighty Seven Park is a curved glass masterpiece supporting 18 stories of luxury living. Each unit has been crafted with 30 percent of its footprint dedicated to outdoor living space, a theme honored throughout Renzo’s design which diffuses the boundaries between nature and traditional construction.

The building itself is elevated, supported by white pilotis, with a single-level subterranean parking garage completely invisible to the outside eye. Inspiration for the aesthetic and intention of Eighty-Seven park came from simple, natural occurrences. Poetry, photographs, and artworks which served as inspiration, hang in the first-floor private gallery; resonating with themes of oceanic colors, form, infinity, and the layered balance between order and disorder. These large concepts are reflected in even the smallest details; from the decision to build with structural glass, to the careful alignment of unobstructed views from the interior to the shoreline.

The lobby is an interior extension of the grounds separated from the outside by floor-to-ceiling Italian glass panels. The element of glass lives throughout the building and is carried out to the borders of the property which are transparently defined by a glass wall.

Andres Moncada, Project Manager for Terra Group who are facilitating the final details of construction, referenced Renzo’s team saying, “In many buildings you will see an arch. And an arch in Spanish or Moroccan design is asking for your attention. Renzo’s approach is the opposite – let the building’s inspiration speak for itself and don’t let the building try to make a statement to the experience.”

The clean lines of the grounds – the matching reflective pools, the evenly spaced Gumbo Limbos, and the hidden electrical features are elements that may go un-noticed, but they bring a calmness and a kind of serenity to the design through undisturbed symmetry.

The reflecting pools are the first installations upon exiting the lobby. The on-staff botanist, Renzo’s team, and landscaping firm West 8, researched and decided on the silver and green buttonwood plants, over 70, to be positioned throughout the reflecting pools. The same species abundant in the park, these buttonwoods work to bring nature closer to the residents. All of the botanical installations for Eighty Seven Park contain plants that grow in the park or are native to the region.

Further down the grounds, the reflecting pools are mirrored by two additional pools; a lounging pool, and a lap pool. The line from the lobby to the shoreline is level as the grounds are built-up and supported by the garage sub-level beneath them. This clever design attribute not only evens the landscape but provides added protection by carrying the theme of layering through to the resiliency of the construction. The pools are essentially pools within pools to protect against flooding. Tropical storm Dorian tested the entire structure and proved the effectiveness of this approach when not one drop was detected.

From the center walkway between the pools extends a path to the beach. There are three paths to the beach, the other two border the sides of the property. The paths connect to form a complete loop for walking or jogging. Though it is residential living, the condos will receive touches of hotel style amenities and services. The beach itself will enjoy full-service from the full-time building staff and attendants.

No exhaust vents or obstructive lighting is visible from the exterior. All necessary functions have been tucked into the railings or hidden in a barely noticeable reveal set into the balcony ceilings. The balconies on each floor appear to be continuous with no columns or dividers due to the structural glass. This gives a yacht-like flow to the facade, and the impression that Eighty Seven Park could float out onto the ocean just as easily as it can rest above the tree line.

Moving back towards the rear entrance, a courtyard area comes into view next to the pools. Here, the Fugo bar provides private service to residents, care of Enoteca, who cater canapes and prepared foods paired with sommelier selected wines, and cocktails featuring herbs cultivated by the property’s botanist. The small enclave bar is also equipped to cater larger parties and gatherings for residents and their guests.

Separating the Fugo bar from the central grounds are narrow, raised water walls that create low illuminated borders leading into a garden area and down to a hidden waterfall. What isn’t visible are the offsite building utilities which are run underground and into a separate structure. Many of the maintenance elements were built into the design for ease of operation but also to control the disruptive presence of industrial sounds.

The final exterior aspect is the lighting. All lighting for Eighty Seven Park meets the newest FWC amber lighting criteria to protect the turtles. This conservation element was thoughtfully encased in the cane rails and camouflaged lighting fixtures and placed in a way that illuminates the building with an amber glow. In the gray hour, right around sunset, the lights dim. There are seven different dimming settings synced to an astronomical clock so the lighting plays off sunset and sunrise.

Of all the careful approaches to structure and integration of nature, one idea stood out through the layered visuals and patterns of the grounds and look of the building. An inspiration poem in the gallery speaks of order and disorder;

Just the calm parallel sand ripples endlessly repeated,

And the places where the pattern shifts, the sequence breaks,

And then resumes on a different tangent or defile.

This elegant idea of engineering, infinite balconies, and calm patterns is echoed throughout the landscaping and placement of the exterior and carries through into the interior design.

Contact our local Real Estate experts at Urban Resource to learn more about the luxury condominiums available in North Beach, Miami Beach today.  Realestate@urbanresource.com