Boat House
May, 2024
Site Location: Miami FL, United States
Team: Dhruv Jadhav
Instructor: Laura Salazar + Pablo Sequeros
Publication
https://platformsurfside.com
Surfside is a suburban town near South Beach Miami. Much of Florida is dealing with concerns of sea level changes as well as exponentially increasing storm surges. The standard home in Surfside is a low single-level designed with little environmental interest. Current new construction aims to maximize space within the zoning ordinances that limit height—creating tall, unenthusiastic homes. The goal of this project is to explore a third typology, one that might connect the suburban scape while responding to environmental issues.
COUNTDOWN TO THE YEAR 2100
Years
Months
Days
Hours
Minutes
Seconds
This elevated platform is created with the idea of raising the level of the house as high as possible and creating a compact living space, as well as a flexible and spacious understory. In order to do so, we explored a strong steel structure that can keep the figure light but also strong. This structure is supplemented by a strong concrete slab, CLT walls, and hurricane-grade windows. Designing for strength also means designing for easy replacement. The steel structure is based on boat storage structures found in the area and hurricane-grade windows are used in new constructions in the area. The more solid materials of the house will be unphased by various storm scenarios and the looser elements are designed with replacement in mind—keeping individual and insurance costs low.
Houses in Surfside value privacy—to do this we created this panel façade which blocks most of the view from the outside in, but creates a light and free-flowing understory. There is a heavy and protected front bedroom space and a light and open living space in the back. The living space consists of an open plan with a courtyard, kitchen, and bathroom in the middle; this creates soft spatial zones that work with the structural grid. The public entrance leads into the understory while the more hidden staircase takes you into the home. This allows for a composition which hides the public program behind the private program. The understory is a space for community activities such as workshops or exhibition space.
The long-term ambition is for the building to be modified over time as storm damage occurs. Once the sea level rises to an uncomfortable level, the house can be stripped, and the structure can potentially revert to being a boat structure. As the sea level inevitably takes over the whole space and deems it uninhabitable for humans, it will become a part of the biome.