SwashHaus | Interior remodel | In Progress
Situated in an upper story of a high-rise in South Beach, the existing unit takes up the width of the building floor plate. This feature allows for views both to the South overlooking Biscayne Bay and to the North overlooking Miami Beach. The juxtaposition between the bay with its biophilic appearance contrasted to the grid like urban context of Miami Beach are considered in the design concept for the apartment. Furthermore, it was observed that our client had a proclivity for art, specifically for art that depicted movement. These observations made way for a design concept where various sinuous forms would run through one side of the apartment while grid like geometry would remain one the side opposing the curves.
Not only did the concept make sense to us from a conceptual level, from a practical point of view the grid like aesthetic made sense programmatically as the kitchen and office both functioned better with these kinds of geometries. The sinuous forms were used in portions of the house that were used for movement between spaces or to carve out niches for a feature wall and custom built in seating or to articulate an overhead soffit.
Swash | Noun 1 | “a dashing of water against or on something. especially : the rush of water up a beach from a breaking wave”
         
            | Noun 2 | “Swagger”
                                                                                                                                                                
 ~Merriam Webster Dictionary
The sketch above represents an abstracted floor plan where program such as bedrooms, the dining room, kitchen, and office are represented as the city grid which oppose a sweeping curve which is materialized as the soffit, millwork, and existing curved wall containing custom artwork depicting movement.
Floor plan
01 Living room                      
02 AC Closet                   
03 Built-in bench          
04 Guest room   
05 Feature wall      
Axonometric diagram
01 Entry door                     
02 Soffit                   
03 Seating         
04 Hidden door   
05 Counter    
06 Under seating storage  
An axonometric type drawing was created to explain tot he client how the feature wall would tie into other spaces of the apartment. Feeding off of the existing entry door millwork (01), horizontal lines act as datums for the subdivision of the feature wall paneling. These panels are treated as individual ribbons that peel at different moments creating spaces such as seating, counter space, soffit faces, and niches.
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