NORTH MIAMI BEACH, FLORIDA, USA

THE BAL CAVUM

IN COLLABORATION WITH JOSIE ANN DURÁN

Architects should create interventions with integrated design strategies that address the ecology of their surroundings and use the elements to their advantage to reduce the building’s negative environmental impact. With that in mind, a 336’8” x 175’ foot lot adjacent to the North Beach Oceanside Park in North Miami Beach, Florida was used as the foundation for a community center design.

On the site were two existing trees that serve as the prime motivator for our design. We decided to carve out these masses to fit our program with various shapes. As such, we picked the name ‘BAL CAVUM’ for our design; ‘Bal’, given its location close to Bal Harbour, and ‘Cavum’, latin for ‘cavities’ or ‘carved out’. To further reduce the footprint of our building, we made use of translucent photovoltaic solar panels as our design roof and assigned scattered windows to bring in some light. We used the curved design of the roof to locate a water harvesting cistern where the roof slopes down to take advantage of Miami’s frequent rainfall. Inspired by the site around it, we decided to make this a mostly passively cooled project, tying it back to the mitigation of artificial elements. By orienting our biggest opening on the northeastern portion of the site to get the ocean’s breeze, and out more closed-off areas on the south side of the building, we hoped to keep away the heat.

The upper level houses what we deemed to be the most important programs, like the gym and juice bar. Their mounted position allows for their continued use, even during a sea level rise that would potentially flood the level below.