Architecture

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Shepherd Eco

Multi-Family, Hospitality

Building Area: 199,357 SF
Building Status: Unbuilt

This project is composed of two different buildings – one hospitality for the new Shepherd Eco brand of boutique hotels and the other a residential building component which sits on 2 levels of enclosed parking. The project also includes ground floor commercial space along NE 27th Street. There is also an expansive outdoor rooftop garden on the 4th Story with access directly from the residential units. The Boutique Hotel will provide great views of downtown Miami and Biscayne Bay to the east and the heart of Wynwood Arts District to the west. The ground floor contains a small retail/F&B space and a mezzanine art gallery to bring back art programming into the District.

Shepherd Eco will include several resiliency initiatives- such as storm water gardens, community farming on the roof and cisterns for collecting water. This project is also focused on connecting people to the dynamic and artistic neighborhood of Wynwood. The Project features a cross Block Pedestrian Paseo on the west side of the Property – providing access for pedestrians and intersecting with a sizeable landscaped green space which is envisioned as a neighborhood amenity for residents and hotel guests and local artists who might want a creative environment to create or share community events.

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Miami Beach Canopy House

Architecture, Single Family

Building Area : 9,894 SF
Building Status : Unbuilt

The client came to us with a large property with about 35 mature specimen trees existing on this site. The client’s intention – to try to keep as many as possible and design the house and its access around full views of these specimens. The scheme began with the living room being placed in the center of the both the oak specimen trees with floor to ceiling glass on both sides so that the shadows throughout the day may fill the space. The program seeks to position the Public/Entertainment areas in a manner that would allow their containment and separation from the more private, family areas. Exterior areas include a rooftop deck, positioned to take advantage of the long views to the water and skylines; a usable front lawn/play area, a backyard with a pool, and areas for vegetable and fruit gardening. In addition to the main two-story house, there would be a desire to also provide a separate pool house which includes an entertainment room, pool bath and a gym with an associated outdoor kitchen. The canopy house has sits below many existing specimen canopies and creates its own architectural canopy as the master suite reaches and angles away from the rest of the residence. The residence lives in beautiful shadows from the trees above and the South Florida sun light.

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Nike – Flagship Lincoln Road

Commercial, Architecture, Selected Works

Building Area : 30,000 SF
Building Status : Completed 2017

Touzet Studio designed almost an entire city block in Lincoln Road, one of the most successful pedestrian malls in our region. We were engaged by several global brands (Apple, Nike and Gap) to help them devise a language which would fit within the local context and the historical district of Miami Beach.

In each case, we carefully researched their individual brands and married their corporate DNA to an architecture that better reflected our Miami culture, climate and materiality. We drew inspiration from Miami Beach’s history and architecture. Our work is also influenced by the Florida Sarasota School and Latin American Modernism, which share similar climates.

When Nike decided to open a flagship store on Lincoln Road in Miami Beach, they came to our studio to better understand the local Miami Beach culture, context and the unique context of Lincoln Road. The City had asked for a “Lincoln Road” store, not a generic role out or repeat of other flagship store designs. Touzet Studio was engaged to make the connection between the global design brand and the local culture and materials and integrate seamlessly into the historic fabric of the block.

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Brown Jordan Flagship

Commercial, Architecture

Building Area: 8,900 SF
Building Status: Completed

This flagship retail project’s concept and materiality were inspired by the Dade County pine forest and coral-rock bluffs that once blanketed the project site in Miami’s Design District– and most of coastal Miami. Less than 2 percent of this endangered pine rockland still survives.

The building is composed of volumes that appear to rise from the park green at its southern edge. The first plate is clad in locally sourced Florida keystone, the same material oolitic limestone quarried locally from the coral bluffs that marked this coastal area. The taller, alternating plates are clad in panels that recall the dappling of daylight through the pine branches. These panels are fabricated from high strength, fiber-reinforced concrete. The interior paneling, stair treads, and cabinetry are made of reclaimed Dade County pine, salvaged from a nearby building during the process of demolition.

As the flagship for an outdoor furniture line, it was especially important to showcase indoor/outdoor living for our subtropical climate. We designed a rooftop garden and exhibit areas that are open to the sky, with views of Downtown Miami, the Design District, and Biscayne Bay. On the ground floor, we included a modern take on a “Florida Room” that opens to a nearby park. All the spaces are day-lit and use local materials for a truly Florida store.

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Cat Cay Residence – Out of the Blue

Architecture, Single Family

Building Area: 5,000 SF
Building Status: Completed 2018

Inspired by Bahamian architecture, but with a modern twist, this tropical beach house incorporates many of the design and climate adaptations found in traditional Bahamian Architecture.

The name of the house – “Out of the Blue” came from the client and was inspired by the many layered shades of blue sea which are a hallmark of Cat Cay. The palette of both the architecture and the interiors of the house were inspired by nature and our desire to connect to the beauty all around. Most of the house has a soft palette of natural and made materials – concrete, Cuban tiles, light wood. The restful white and soft blues of the walls serve both as respite and contrast to the vivid colors of the tropical seas and gardens outdoors.

The house includes Bahamian shutters, porches, breezeways, native keystone, and volume ceilings with wood cladding –elements with deep roots in Bahamian vernacular. The modern feel of the house is expressed in the openness of the Great Room, the immediacy of the connection to the dramatic reflecting pool outdoors, and the simple concrete decks perched above the rocks and beach below. Sliding doors in the main space retract to allow for 20 feet of gorgeous, uninterrupted ocean views.

The Bahamian roots of the house also provide several important resiliency features: cross ventilation makes public spaces well ventilated and AC optional during much of the year. Elevated decks capture the breezes and shady porches block the sun. The mechanical and electrical is lifted from the grounds and incorporated into the architecture. The basement houses several large water cisterns that capture the water from the gutters and pitched roofs.

The materials are simple to maintain in a harsh marine environment and unfussy. This is a tropical beach house designed to be enjoyed with family and friends.

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Hialeah Factory Town

Architecture, Master Planning, Urban Design

Building Area: 382,050 SF
Building Status : Unbuilt

Factory town is a master plan of a 276,560 SF lot in Hialeah. The concept for the master plan is a cluster of buildings holding different programs ranging from marker spaces, markets, retail, entertainment venues, offices and recreational fields like soccer. A community of makers creating attractive work will attract and retain the 21st century Industries in Hialeah. Adaptive re-use of the existing industrial buildings for a variety of exciting uses creates a place that has activity day and night. Access to fresh food, urban farming and markets provide much needed services to the area. Community areas and programming will add to the wellbeing of residents and visitors. In addition to the program, resiliency comes into play with adding tree canopy and green elements help with heat island effect found in industrial areas.

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St Albans

Architecture, Education

Building Area: 14,544 SF
Building Status: Unbuilt

Touzet Studio designed the addition and remodel of St Albans Child Enrichment Center, one of the oldest early Childhood education in Coconut Grove. St Albans has been educating young children of all abilities for over 40 years. Touzet Studio is working with St Alban’s to help them raise the necessary funding to build their classroom. This project was designed with the goal of helping to expand their facilities and offer more services to the community. The Board and the Director of St Albans were very inspired by the simple and thoughtful design ideas to help teach children of all abilities at an age where it is critical.

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La Escondida Residence

Architecture, Single Family, Featured spot 5, Interiors

Building Area: 15,402 SF
Building Status: Completed 2018

Among this lushness, the architects oriented the structure “so the views from each room focus on specific trees in the landscape,” according to Carlos Prio-Touzet. Aligning living spaces around the outdoors also helped them modulate how the family experiences natural light. For example, the cantilevered, second-floor master bedroom seemingly floats among the trees, so morning sunshine is diffused softly through the leaves. Spaces like the kitchen and smaller dining area were made to overlook “some of the more beautiful trees with great branch qualities, so they can enjoy nice shadow play,” Prio-Touzet says. And operable glass walls intertwine throughout the facade’s solid volumes, carving out long vistas of rich greenery. “The lights are seldom turned on all day,” he adds, “because these rooms open to the outside, picking up all the bounced light.”

“The streamlined, orthogonal structure never rises above the canopy. A tree survey was a critical starting point for positioning the house on the site and establishing view corridors, requiring only one specimen to be relocated and another rotated in its place. …The accumulation of such subtle details underscores the home’s sensitive statement, delicately floating among the trees, never overwhelming the landscape. It’s why the family has fondly dubbed their new house La Escondida, or “the hidden one”—a quiet piece of Miami’s rare wilderness to call their own.”- Luxe Nestled Among Oak Trees, A Miami Home Is A Modern Haven BY MONIQUE MCINTOSH NOVEMBER 6, 2019

Custom pieces of furniture we designed for the house include a jewel-box bar recessed into a wall of anthracite-stained white oak and slabs of basaltina. The feature is mirrored by a modular cabinet constructed of dark oak and thin bars of oxidized bronze that displays the clients’ extensive collection of antique chess pieces.

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Design District Retail “The Weave”

Commercial, Architecture

Building Area : 5,000 SF
Building Status : Unbuilt

This small retail infill building was designed to replace an existing carpet and rug shop in the Design District.

The design of the rainscreen concrete façade (unbuilt) was inspired by the weaving of the carpets and rugs that had been the client’s business for over 20 years. We thought it would be a nice way to weave in the stories of the past shop and the client with the new design.