Living at the water’s edge is what makes this a special place. We celebrate this uniqueness by being inspired by the sea. Corals and sponges as architecture unto themselves, forming incredible living structures comprising smaller building blocks. The waves and ripples on the surface of the water reflect shimmering light and ever changing color, and the horizon line serves as the boundary and the connection between sea and sky.

The building’s translucent base helps to provide continuity and connection through both sides of the site, connecting the street to the sea. With no hard edges, no corners, and a gradual tapering to the sky, views flow around these forms rather than stopping at a single wall surface. They also allow for a constant variation of light across their surfaces, making each building ever changing throughout the course of the day.

Taking inspiration from the sea and the build-up of coral from many smaller cellular elements, the base material is composed of a small masonry module of warm earth toned Roman brick. Similarly colored horizontal terra cotta fins of varying depths wrap the upper floors of each building form. A rhythm of openings in the fins add to the organic nature of the project and allow for unobstructed views while also providing necessary sun shading and guardrails to occupiable spaces. This peeling, seen from a distance, becomes reminiscent of ripples on the surface of the sea or the reflection of light off the water, adding another layer of texture to the façade.

Above a level of below grade parking accessed from the main road, the ground floor provides a mix of public and semi-private functions. Residents can enter either from the street side or the waterfront to a common lobby. This is where all primary support services are located, including the concierge, package room, resident lounge, waiting lobbies and access to individual building cores. Along the waterfront, retail and public amenities for varying scales are able to occupy a mix of spaces. One level up, the Horizon Terrace provides common amenity deck spaces for residents as well as private terraces for the adjacent units, all with direct views to the sea while still feeling connected to the ground floor activities below.

Above this level, residential units of varying scales are distributed across the floors. Most units are intended to be floor-thru flats, extending from street to water and providing water views from every unit while maintaining a sense of privacy as needed. In this layout, three cores provide access to the units giving residents only one immediate neighbor. At the upper levels, multi-story penthouse units and lofts command the most captivating views as well as access to dedicated rooftop amenities.

Within this design approach the design team was also able to craft other unit styles as necessary to satisfy the demand of the potential residents. For example, a single parcel core could lead to a more traditional double loaded corridor with small units, some street side, some waterfront. Or two distributed cores could result in a hybrid approach with some floor-thru units and other smaller units off a common corridor as needed. This makes the overall development as flexible as possible to respond to market demand, potential phasing, and fiscal realities.