Exterior Render

North Bay Village (NBV) is a fairly recent man-made island in the middle of Biscayne, surrounded by shallow waters and a continuous seawall. In this sense, the site allows for a wide range of design possibilities in this beautiful and very transited location, yet it also entails many challenges in terms of flooding and sea level rise.

Site Plan

NBV is a fairly recent man-made island in the middle of Biscayne, surrounded by shallow waters and a continuous seawall. In this sense, the site allows for a wide range of design possibilities in this beautiful and very transited location, yet it also entails many challenges in terms of flooding and sea level rise.

3rd Floor Plan

In terms of infrastructure and program, the building’s footprint was reduced to its minimum to allow for the most green area and public spaces on the ground floor. Looking at the site demographics, the proposed program includes a community center, a library, and a small cafe while incorporating a community garden on each floor.

4th Floor Plan

The building provides the community with open recreational areas for planned activities, a daycare, reading and studying spaces, as well as a weekly market for and extra income.

Building Section

The interior spaces of the building guide the visitors through a journey upwards, transitioning from one floor to the other while maintaining visual connections indoors and outdoors. All areas are vertically connected to create a continuous path throughout the building were books are stacked on every surface area possible; therefore, it seems like traveling along a massive bookstack.

Environmental Systems

With the aim to reduce the environmental impact on the site and to set a new construction standard on the island, the building is oriented to reduce heat load and maximize air flow deploying trees for shade, high-rated insulation. Also, the design incorporates solar panels embedded within the roof structure and other shading devices besides a hydroelectric system to convert the harvested rainwater into energy for a net zero design.

Park Entrance

The Project proposes a landscape strategy based on Florida native riparian buffer zones and the use of TETRApot for mangrove integration, which could be incorporated in the future as part of the NBV zoning code for a resilient coastline.