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As we explored in a previous story, Miami is currently experiencing a dramatic construction boom, adding thousands of new residential units and a myriad of new hotel rooms, retail spaces, and office buildings. In the city's downtown area, the desirable Brickell neighbourhood has become the focal point of the building craze. Across a 9.1-acre site along South Miami Avenue between Sixth and Eighth Streets, Swire Properties is completing phase one of a $1.05 billion project known as Brickell City Centre.
Designed by Arquitectonica, the complex will offer 24,000 square metres of office space, 780 condominium units, and a 263-room hotel also which will also offer 89 serviced apartments, rising atop a 46,500-square-metre shopping centre. As shown in a recent photo update on the dedicated Forum thread, several components of the project are close to completion. Both residential towers, Rise and Reach, are now architecturally topped out at 45 and 44 floors respectively. Similarly, the 41-level hotel EAST, Miami is receiving its exterior finishing touches before welcoming its first guests sometime this year.
While the blue-tinted glazing has been fully applied to the aforementioned buildings as well as the shorter office components of Brickell City Centre, the shopping complex is rapidly taking shape. To provide shoppers with a comfortable, sheltered and climate-controlled experience when walking from one shop to another, a unique feature called the Climate Ribbon will run over 300 metres in length above the mall's open-air hallways. Made of glass and steel, the undulating canopy was designed to provide shoppers and visitors with shade while funnelling the breezes from Biscayne Bay towards the corridors, thus eliminating the need for artificial air conditioning. The $30 million structure is now being installed, as seen in the picture below.
Further phases of the development include the 80-storey mixed-use One Brickell City Centre and the 46-storey, 350-unit North Squared residential tower. The entire project aims to achieve LEED certification, with some individual buildings being certified LEED Gold as a result of their enhanced environmental performance.
Additional images and information can be found in our Database file linked below. Want to get involved in the discussion? Leave a comment at the bottom of this page or check out the associated Forum thread.
