View From the Northeast

Isometric View of the Neighborhood Context

Illustrative Section Drawing

Patio Space Between Cottages

View From the Southeast

View From the North

Site and First Floor Plan

Second Floor Plan

Third Floor Plan

North and East Elevations

South and West Elevations

TWO HOUSES, COCONUT GROVE, MIAMI, FLORIDA, 2019:

This project called for the design of two homes on one 50 foot wide lot in Miami’s Coconut Grove neighborhood. Green Orizzont, a social and environmentally conscious developer and CWV Homes, an innovative “smart home” builder dreamed of technologically advanced “green” homes that could serve as a model of inspiration and change for a historic neighborhood under increased development pressure.

The West Coconut Grove has become more gentrified in recent years. Modernist “white box” duplexes with paved front yards occupied by cars have replaced homes with greater historic character. The design of these homes strategically reintroduces two important elements ubiquitous with the vernacular “Shotgun” house: The porch and the gabled roof. In the case of the porch, board and batten siding provided texture and a reference to the earliest homes in Southern Florida. Conventional framing in the roof allowed the attic space to be occupied within — on one side for additional living space — on the other, for a spacious master bedroom ceiling. The project is best understood through the inventive section of the homes, designed to maximize space and enhance the experience of the vertical circulation.

Project Collaborators: Steven Fett, Yue Pan, Aky Fernandez, Andrea Hernandez and Jingyi Xu.