2014 MCHAP
1111 Lincoln Road
Herzog & de Meuron
Miami Beach, FL, USA
January 2010
PRIMARY AUTHOR
CONTRIBUTING AUTHOR
CLIENT
PHOTOGRAPHER
OBJECTIVE
The character of Lincoln Road was a source of inspiration for the architecture of the car park. The garage is a fully open concrete structure. Ceiling heights vary between a standard parking height and double or triple height, in order to accommodate other programs, permanently as well as temporarily. An unenclosed, sculptural stair in the center of the building makes pedestrian circulation in the garage a panoramic, ceremonial experience, as is moving through the building in a car. A retail unit and a private residence are located on the upper levels, and the structure is used for parties, photo or film shoots, fashion shows, concerts and other social or commercial activities, offering amazing views as backdrop for a stage. The private residence, nested on a mezzanine on the top floor of the car park has generous terraces; it is folded into the structure yet screened by abundant landscaping. The car park is an organism made up of a family of concrete slabs, deployed as floor plates, columns and ramps. Both the position and form of these elements result from a series of forces acting upon each other, a complex overlapping of site and building code requirements, combined with program choices and the aspiration to both fit in with Lincoln Road Mall and to formulate its beginning at the corner of Alton Road. The lowest floor-plate of the car park cuts away a large part of the ground floor of the Suntrust building, creating a fully glazed, kinked storefront along Lincoln Road, opening up the heavy existing building for 16 new retail tenants. A new entry and an open, lit staircase in one of the existing corner towers of the Suntrust building leads to the new rooftop restaurant, which offers exquisite views over the Art Deco District and the Miami Beach skyline alongside the Atlantic Ocean.
CONTEXT
Lincoln Road Mall in Miami Beach is a very alive, urban experience, a pedestrian shopping street where small-scale restaurants and bars serve their customers day and night, all year round, under lush trees. The mixed-use development called 1111 Lincoln Road is at the western end of Lincoln Road and as such functions as a gateway to this central portion of Miami Beach. The project for 1111 Lincoln Road comprises three different parts: 1) The existing Suntrust building is rehabilitated to include retail and a restaurant while the bank it used to contain is moved to a new building. 2) A new mixed-use structure for parking, retail and a private residence is attached to the Suntrust building. 3) A two-story building now hosting the relocated bank on the ground floor and four residences on the upper floor faces Alton Road, with a landscaped alley and surface parking lot behind it.
PERFORMANCE
The project for 1111 Lincoln Road is as much an urban redevelopment as it is a specific architectural response to the programmatic requirements and immediate site conditions. It is an extension of the public life on the street. Joggers climb its stairs, skate boarders ride its ramps, yoga lessons take advantage of the breezes and relative quiet on the 7th floor and tourists take in the expansive view. Its restaurants bring life to the street and the roof. The retail and the parking are full. It has become a year round destination. It is a project in constant motion. 1111 Lincoln Road is a framework for new interventions and change.
