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BRITO, COHAN & ASSOCIATES DESIGNS LATEST FOR WCI
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01/16/2005
EVER WONDER HOW a High Rise Multifamily Project like this is designed? Brito, Cohan and Associates tell all.
(CORAL GABLES) ? Brito, Cohan & Associates (BCA) Architecture, Planning, and Interior Design, with offices in the heart of Coral Gables, announced today that their newest project for WCI Communities, Inc. at Hammock Dunes, a luxury country club residential tower, is ready to begin construction. Cambria, the latest tower in the master planned community in Palm Coast, Florida is located near Jacksonville on Florida?s upper east coast, south of historic St. Augustine and north of coastal Daytona Beach.
Cambria at Hammock Dunes, is WCI?s premiere luxury condominium, offering 60 luxurious oceanfront residences, including six (6) penthouse and four (4) garden lanai units with breathtaking views of the Atlantic Ocean.
Ever wonder how a project like this goes from concept to reality?
Recently, Alicia Benitez, Project Manager, for the architectural firm, Brito, Cohan & Associates (BCA) Architecture, Planning, and Interior Design, sat down to answer a few ?insider? questions.
Q. When working with a seasoned developer such as WCI Communities, Inc., where does the concept for the project start? Do you develop the program for the project or do they? A. Our Project Manager for WCI [now the President of the Eastern Division] worked hand in hand with us during these initial stages. In essence, WCI does come to us with their own Project Proforma, and they give this to us in the form of the number of units they would like and the average square footage of those units. Having this as a basis allows us to develop typical floors and typical units. Think of the purchase of a new car--you?d have to know if you need to seat two or seven! Once we have typical units and floors, we design an amenities level and study that.
Q. Was there anything unusual about WCI?s requests? A. The primary request was to design from the inside, with a secondary concentration on the exterior. A fantastically successful innovation was the creation of highly desirable Lanai units, in addition to the prime Penthouse units. Based upon the success of the concept in Portofino, we created four Lobby Level Lanai units for Cambria, each with private stair, for those desiring to walk right out to the Lanai level amenities and down to the beach the beach. These units were so desirable at Portofino, where there were only 2 Lanai Level units, that a lottery of 10-12 was created, and eventually accommodated the lucky owners of the units.
Q. Do those ultra luxury units require special or additional design consideration? A. Absolutely. Penthouse and specialty Lanai units are tackled last, as great care is given to building exceptional value in those units. The value comes in the luxury created, and this is a complex and individual study. The size of the unit is studied and amenities are created of their own, such as in the Penthouse units, where there are private in-unit exercise rooms, steam rooms and sauna, personal theatres, billiards areas, extended wrap around private terraces with ocean views and trellis covered bar/BBQ pavilion and whirlpool spas.
Q. In addition to the program for the building itself, the beachfront location must have played a factor in the design.
A. Cambria is the third of several planned residential towers that Brito, Cohan and Associates, will be designing for WCI Communities, Inc. within Hammock Dunes in Palm Coast, Florida. Portofino, Savona and Cambria are each located on one of three of the prime beachfront property locations. The site plan and the placing of the buildings were sculpted with consideration given to the grading and sloping of the dunes as a primary influencing factor. There were additional careful site considerations to be made, both in the preservation of the dune vegetation, and the retention of Hammock preservation areas. There are sea turtle ordinances in the area, as giant sea turtles nest in this area, and there are birds and trees native to the area that must be protected as well.
Q. What determines the shaping of the buildings? A. The conceptual master plan for the building revolves around movement. Movement that can be achieved both in plan and in elevation, thus allowing the newly designed buildings to gently fuse into an existing residential community. More stepping and movement is created at the roof level with the design of roof gardens at the Penthouse level.
Certainly, the views are an overall guiding factor. The through-unit concept evolves from providing continuous East and West views simultaneously, capturing breathtaking views of the golf courses on one side and the Atlantic Ocean on the other. Desirable furniture placement affects the placement of the windows, and the views are studied from within the unit, from the inside out, not just outside in. Stairs and corridors are secondary but important influences on the shaping and massing of a building. To make the most of the coastal location, corridors at Cambria are open, covered walkways; the stair tower has arches and takes on the character of the building.
Because of the location, a primary factor is being a good neighbor. As this was an existing community, care was taken to allow for view corridors, and creating structures that would not be massive and block the views of the neighboring residential areas.
Q. What does the Architect give the Client? How does the Creative Process Work? A. There are elements that give a flavor to the design. For Hammock Dunes, perhaps the ?genius seed? is something the Owner has seen?in our case the WCI Owner?s rep was influenced by the flavor of the Mediterranean and a small Tuscan Village. He delivers that concept verbally, and I translate it into a series of study sketches. This opens a dialogue, ?Is this the flavor we want? How do you live in this space?? And in the case of the amenities, ?How do you entertain? What makes it special??
There are a series of free-hand sketches, capturing vignettes for study. From this, we proceed to generate small massing models in 3D, and at times generate rotational and 3D flyovers. We also do a series of color studies for the buildings.
Q. What sorts of things have been discovered through these studies? A. The location of the pool was originally planned at grade level. It was elevated to make the most of the view. With adding value always at the forefront, we also went in and added additional amenities to the pool area, making it a self-contained private and luxurious destination.
Residents of Cambria at Hammock Dunes will enjoy a host of amenities including an elegantly furnished grand lobby area, social room, technologically advanced theater, fully-equipped spa building with his and hers steam room, sauna rooms and massage room facilities, billiards room with wet bar and humidor, wine room with individual wine lockers, and furnished guest suites. Cambria has a distinctive Spanish Moorish influence with the drama of open colonnades, ornamented columns and moldings, bronze-tone ironwork railings and lanterns, striped canvas awnings and canopies with speared ends. Cambria?s most distinctive quality is its exterior Moroccan courtyard flanked by a full service spa building and open-air pavilions. It embraces the Mediterranean concept of outdoor living with spacious rooftop private terraces and trellis covered private whirlpool spas.
Palm Coast, situated in Flagler County, Florida, remains primarily a pristine golfing community; however, the US Census Bureau reports that it has had one of the highest rates of population growth in the United States since 1990. The area is destined for solid economic growth as well, as the University of Florida?s Bureau of Economic and Business Research predicts Flagler County to have one of the highest job growth rates in Florida in the next seven (7) years.
The Hammock Dunes Bridge spans the Intracoastal Waterway, providing easy access to I-95, Walt Disney World, Sea World and the Kennedy Space Center, giving residents the choice to stay within the richly appointed Hammock Dunes Community to enjoy swimming, golfing and socializing, or travel to one of the outstanding nearby Florida attractions, beachfront or inland communities.
Brito, Cohan & Associates (BCA) has created some of South Florida?s most distinctive architectural designs, and is annually responsible for providing services for projects with construction values in excess of 300 million dollars. Its award-winning portfolio includes luxury residential, retail and facilities design for some of the region?s most respected developers and corporations. The full service, architecture, planning and interior design firm provides a single source for clients seeking innovative solutions that are elegant, efficient and cost-effective.
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Contact: Lawrence S. Cohan, AIA, Principal, BCA [email protected] 305-663-8182
4942 LeJeune Road, Suite 200, Coral Gables, FL 33146 http://www.bcarchitects.com Tel 305.663.8182 Fax 305.663.8882
