According to the City staff report, “While the previously presented design has subtle movement along the hotel towers’ expansive elevations, the revised design further activates the facades, specifically the north tower’s south façade that faces 17th Street and the east tower’s east façade facing the ocean. The rounded exterior walls at the narrow ends of the hotel tower shift inward more frequently, and with more exaggerated gestures, rendering an illusion [of] undulating floor plates as the towers rise. The south elevation of the north tower incorporates such a gesture along its northwest corner, midway up the tower, that extends into its south elevation.”
“Additionally, the east tower’s eastern façade has incorporated a ‘dimpled’ wall plane above the existing Jackie Gleason Theater, a sort of visual nod to the icon[ic] theater. The proposed modifications have rendered the hotel towers’ elevations more dynamic,” according to the staff report.
At its last meeting the DRB requested more detail on how the keystone from the adjacent Henry Hohauser-designed municipal building would be incorporated into the hotel. That building is slated for demolition as part of the hotel project. Developer David Martin has said the keystone will be used in the interior of the new Miami Beach Welcome Center that will face 17th Street. Staff is recommending the architect look at incorporating the keystone into the façade so that it is visible from the sidewalk along 17th Street. Otherwise, staff is supportive of the application.
Full details of the application are here.
New renderings below from Arquitectonica
