Interiors

La Escondida Residence

2020 AIA Miami Residential Architecture/Merit
Located in a mature oak hammock, the clients requested a house that celebrated the lush vegetation and beauty of existing trees as well as provide privacy for their family. According to Luxe Florida: “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”.

Touzet Studio oriented the structure so the views from each room focus on specific trees in the landscape. The living spaces were aligned around the outdoors to help connect the everyday life of the family to the mature oak hammock beyond as well as enjoy filtered natural daylight from each room. 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. 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 because these rooms open to the outside, picking up all the bounced light.

Brown Jordan Flagship – Interiors

Building Area: 8,900 SF
Building Status: Completed

Having once been populated by Dade County pine trees where the building sits, this 8,000 SF high-end luxury retail space incorporates the material, salvaged from a neighboring building, in a series of floating ceilings and details. By blurring the boundary between interior and exterior, interior spaces become garden-like in order to effectively exhibit Brown Jordan’s outdoor furniture. An expansive roof terrace above features the company’s line of outdoor kitchens and creates platform for unexpected views of the Design District.

Cat Cay Residence – Interiors

Elements of the design palette, relate to the amazing shades of blue in the ocean that is visible from the Great Room. Inspired by Bahamian architecture, but with a modern twist, this tropical house incorporates Bahamian shutters, porches, breezeways, native keystone, and volume ceilings with wood cladding –elements with deep roots in Bahamian vernacular. The modern take on island architecture is embodied 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.

Coral Gables Residence – Interiors

Touzet Studio drew inspiration from nature- the tropical hammock of Corlal Gables and Biscayne Bay beyond.

The House transitions from two engaged stone-clad volumes on the street to a primarily crystalline façade on the Bayside.

The interiors balance a warm and neutral palette with moments of intense color, utilizing terrazzo floors and natural wood to give the house a very Florida tropical feeling.

The blues and grey of the carpets and custom light fixtures pick up on the shades of the ocean. The bright bursts of color recall the vibrant colors found in the gardens of the Tropical landscapes.

The Furniture layout takes full advantage of the crystalline façade and beautiful bay views while also meeting the Clients programmatic needs.

Gables Estate Residence

Building Area: 1,735 SF
Building Status: Completed

This private residence for an inventor and engineer couple with a love of design began as an interior remodeling of the kitchen and great room. It grew over time to include the children’s bathrooms. The custom kitchen was designed by Touzet Studio and built by Frohbose & Beers. It features an 8-foot-long, custom designed island with an absolute granite velvet finish top.

The appliances are tucked out of sight in a custom “appliance garage” clad in a walnut volume that also conceals the refrigerators. The ovens were set in a coral rock wall with a custom-designed bronze hood.

The design was inspired by the kitchens of early French chateaus, with their oversized fireplaces for cooking. The powder room, inspired by vintage train compartments, was tucked into the walnut volume that defines the great room.

88 La Gorce

The client’s synopsis included over 16,000 SF of program and the request that the project should follow the basic layout of the 1926 Carl Fisher Estate, a property he had once owned. The program is divisible into three distinct groupings: a main house that contains the primary public and private areas, a guest pavilion, and a service structure with staff quarters, a garage, secure storage, mechanical rooms, and a power plant.
The main house consists of a large rectangular volume intersected by numerous volumetric elements that each articulate portions of the program. The master bedroom suite is located within a cantilever that overlooks a strip of private beach and over 100 feet of a reflecting pool (serving as both a pool and spa). The breakfast room extends beyond the main volume of the house to capture views of Indian Creek and the morning sun while the family room, located in a high-ceiling wedge, cantilevers over the front garden.
A twenty-five-foot cylindrical void is the core of the house, containing both its vertical circulation and a partially suspended stair that spirals up to the roof garden. The roof of the core is constructed in glass, allowing the natural daylight to fill the three-story void and welcome light deep into the house.

Parasol House – Interiors

Building Area: 12,309 SF

Building Status: Completed

The house is designed as a long main bar, running east-west, positioned along the north side of the property. This bar is intersected by two other elements, thus forming a series of three courtyards – each with its own separate and unique character.

The street-side of the property contains a number of mature live oaks tht helped inform the character of the first court. This “Tree Court” is bound by the Florida keystone-clad wall of the guest quarters volume and the Ficus ripens-covered volume of the garage. The court is sheltered by the natural canopy of the oak trees. The first perpendicular element, a glass-clad bridge that contains the children’s bedrooms, extends from the main bar and rests on the guest quarters volume. It shields the home’s entry and frames the entry to the second court. This court, the “Rain Court,” is bound on three sides by the circulation spine of the main bar, the guest quarters volume, and the two-story living room; it opens onto a dense garden wall.

The third court, the “Water Court,” faces Biscayne Bay, and contains the pool and spa. It was designed to create an exterior environment that encourages full access and enjoyment of the Bay and its long vistas and sunsets. The second canopy to shield a court is the concrete ͞parasol͟ that extends above the living room volume. Positioned to offer solar and rain protection, its is raised above the roof to allow Bay breezes to flow through the site, keeping both the Water Court and Rain Court cool. This parasol also acts as a solar reflector that blocks direct sun during most of the day while allowing the light that is reflected off the living room’s single-membrane roof to bounce off its underside.