ODP's Kurt Dannwolf On Collaborating with Architects at Other Firms

Read the Executive Profile published in the South Florida Business Journal

We've Been Assigned The Expansion of Ski Retailer Powder7 in Golden, CO →

Kitchens Over $200,000 – KBDA 2017 Silver Winner →

A TOWER IN THE SKY: One Acclaimed Design Team Turns A Penthouse In Miami’s Prestigious Four Seasons Tower Into A Sleek And Warm Residence

Published in Miami Home & Decor 2017 Spring/Summer Edition

Architect Kurt Dannwolf and Director of Interiors, Lachmee Chin, are all too familiar with the Four Seasons Hotel and Residences in Miami, Fla. Not only is it luxurious and amenity rich, but it is also one of the tallest buildings in the state of Florida. Dannwolf, the lead architect on the 70-story skyscraper, and Chin, had worked together with the developer, Millennium Partners, to create over a dozen residential and commercial spaces inside the tower. So, when the owner of this 10,000-square-foot empty penthouse on the 67th floor was referred to the design team, they were ready to go to work.

The client wanted a place where he and his wife, and two teenage sons could stay and transition when traveling from their home in Brazil to places overseas. It was important for the space to be modern in design and comfortable, while meeting the owners’ desire to entertain, or simply, when only the two of them were in the residence. After a thorough assessment of what would become the entertaining and private spaces, the design team set about adding color, texture and art to unify their creation.

With dramatic ocean views to the East and to the South, large picture windows were draped in silk - night lights can be glimpsed from the land; in the afternoon boats are passing by and in the morning, the rising sun is on view. “It couldn’t be more romantic and beautiful,” Chin says. The room is kept fresh and alive with textured materials such as a velvet and silk accent pillow that adorns a Fendi sofa, a patterned Hallgarten area rug from David Sutherland, and armchairs from Artefacto upholstered soft blend of silk and linen that appear different each time the light strikes them. Chin also selected gray veined marble flooring for the main living spaces. “This became a unifying factor between rooms and gave us a blank canvas on which to place other elements,” the designer says.

A thick, dark-stained wall clad in American walnut runs the length of the home. As you approach the dining room from the adjacent wine room, a glimpse through a round cutout in the wall reveals a Hellman-Chang dining table lined with elegant “Bogart” chairs from One of a Kind, in a shimmery gray Calvin Klein fabric.

Just off the dining room is the oversized kitchen which was designed to function for effortless seasonal living and elegant entertaining, with ample serving area. Having such a spacious room gave Dannwolf the opportunity to create a large sculptural island - the quartzite rectangular prism, adorned with custom-stained walnut cabinetry, is supported on a steel frame that allows it to cantilever at both ends. Near a window with stunning ocean views, a glass shelf that suspends at bar height creates the perfect place for casual meals. “The owners wished for the home to seamlessly fit their lifestyle” said Dannwolf.

Marble flooring gives way to custom, dark-stained walnut flooring in the game room. On poker night, while seated on silver-hued chairs from Artefacto clad in Edelman Dream Cow suede players gather around a lacquer gaming table complete with round-carved pockets to store chips.

Custom-designed white pedestals topped with glass-colored vases line a wall of textured silk panels in a nearby office. In the guest bath, another pedestal, one of deep blue soapstone set within white marble, supports a sculptural tub. “I wanted the tub to be more than just a utilitarian piece,” Chin says. “Here it becomes a focal point for the room,” she says.

Adjoining the master bedroom is the sleek master bath, where the architect created a 15-foot-by-19-foot opening to the sky above an oversized shower with square rain shower heads.

Since this was the last penthouse in the building, the design team knew they had to create something special. “We utilized a lot of the things we had learned from working on the other projects in the tower, plus we were able to explore new ideas to make this home unique,” Dannwolf says.

interior design: Lachmee Chin with Nicole Yousefi and Xiomara Munoz, ODP Architects, Hollywood, FL
architecture: Kurt Dannwolf, ODP Architects, Hollywood, FL
text: Deborah S. Hartz-Seeley
photography: Ken Hayden, Miami Beach, FL

ODP Architecture and Design Wins 2nd Place in South Florida Business Journal 2017 Coolest Offices Contest

On April 3, SFBJ asked companies across the tri-county area to send in photos of their offices for a chance at being named the coolest office in all of South Florida. On April 26, the Top 10 finalists were revealed and we were one of them. More than 30,000 online votes were registered at SouthFloridaBusinessJournal.com and our firm came in 2nd place with 8,680 votes, less than 2,000 shy from #1. We would like to thank all of you for your support!

ODP_Gallery_Feature Wall_Ceiling_Birds Lighting.jpg

Paramount At Miami World Center Progress

This is with a great deal of excitement that construction has begun on the fourth floor — only 55 levels to go!

The 58 story building will span almost 30 acres in the heart of downtown Miami and will be comprised of 513 condos, a magnificent skydeck and lounge with a sunrise pool, a fire pit, an Infinity edge pool, an observatory and a Tai Chi Deck.

ODP Architecture & Design Wins Award of Merit in the "Un-Built Residential" Category

The 2016 Design Awards Program recognizes excellence in design by the architectural profession and is presented by AIA Fort Lauderdale, a Chapter of the American Institute of Architects. These Awards are intended to promote public consciousness of the built environment through distinguished works of architecture by our local membership.

We were thrilled to be awarded the Award of Merit for our 1399 Southwest First Avenue Tower, a tower that is comprised of hotel rooms, amenity deck and residences.

Paramount Miami World Center Construction Update

As we are contributing to the skyline of Miami, here are some fun facts about our construction progress:

12,000 – 13,000 cubic yards of cement are being poured into the main foundation
1,300 truck loads in total
6 concrete pumps running simultaneously for 30 hours straight!

One Thousand Museum

“Whereas most construction is realtor or developer driven, OTM is artistically driven. The ideology of the way in which it is built is to expose the columns, rather than hide them behind a wall." Kurt Dannwolf, Principal at ODP

Lachmee Chin, Director of Interiors – Inspiration Behind Her Work

Lachmee Chin, who has designed interior spaces within Four Season Hotel Miami and Four Seasons Private Residences Miami, talks about the inspiration behind her work and shares her recommendations for exploring design in the city through Art Basel and the Design District.

2016 / ISSUE 3 / FOUR SEASONS MAGAZINE

Since 2005 Lachmee Chin’s esprit ouvert has guided her as director of interior design at O’Donnell, Dannwolf & Partners Architects Inc. (ODP). The firm is the architect of record for One Thousand Museum, designed by the late Iraqi-born architect and Pritzker Prize winner Zaha Hadid, and has independently designed several of the Four Seasons Private Residences Miami.

At Four Seasons Hotel Miami and the Private Residences, Chin has worked on the designs for the main lobby, for EDGE, Steak & Bar, and for three of the penthouse floors-one of which has a 4,000-bottle wine room in its centre and an award-winning masculine bathroom (see Four Seasons Projects, right). In total, ODP has designed more than 20 spaces in the building. The firm also partners with the Hotel on a design-focused Extraordinary Experience that gives guests the opportunity to see exclusive showrooms, private collections and stunning individual residences that are not open to the public.

Born in Guyana to Hindu parents, Chin grew up in South Florida and feels that her heritage and surroundings opened her mind to "different spices. smells, sounds, colours and religions: which eventually turned into a love for various fabrics, textures and materials.” Her penchant for creative pursuits led her to study painting, ceramics, photography and charcoal nude figure drawing at New World School of the Arts in downtown Miami. This concentration in fine arts, her culturally diverse upbringing and a taste for the finer things in life-including wine, Aston Martin cars and beautiful shoes-have informed Chin's aesthetic. Here, she offers her insights into working with clients, navigating Art Basel and Miami’s Design District, and other design highlights.

FOUR SEASONS PROJECTS
A standout project completed at Four Seasons Private Residences Miami was what Chin christened the "James Bond powder room." "Because powder rooms aren't typically designed for a man, we opted for a very masculine concept– a classic black tuxedo with a peek-a-boo of white," she says. Setting a droplet-shaped sink "that felt delicate, much like a tuxedo shirt" on a swirled marble floor, Chin and her team chose chrome fixtures to stand out against a backdrop of black marble walls inlaid with circles of silver leaf. The project won a 2016 Kitchen & Bath Design Award from Kitchen & Bath Design News. "The best design is a process," Chin says. When working with clients, her first step is to listen-intently. "My vision is very much fed by the information clients provide: pictures, stories, sketches and, of course, our client's requirements for the space," Chin explains. It's crucial, she says, to understand their motivations.

DESIGN DISTRICT PICKS
Chin is a frequent visitor to the Design District. "I love the majestic 1921 Moore Building (above), which I consider the heart of the district," she says. Among the neighbourhood's oldest buildings, it's one that Chin admired as a child growing up in Miami. Today it houses a permanent installation by Hadid, which gives Chin "a nice feeling, because I've seen this architect, I met her." Two of Chin's favourite restaurants for entertaining are Michael's Genuine Food & Drink and Harry's Pizzeria; both have excellent service, she says, and Michael's "has a great selection of craft beers and wine, a nice way to take an hour's time to get to know a client." Another preferred spot: the Cartier boutique, as much for its "calm, spa-like" space as for its products. And this, she says, "is what every designer strives for: designing spaces that will make you feel good today, tomorrow and in 10 years." In other words, timeless.

HOW TO DO ART BASEL
December 1-4, Miami Beach will be abuzz with artists, designers, filmmakers and devotees of contemporary art and design. With some 250 galleries from 31 countries filling the convention centre with painting, sculpture, photography and installations, as well as satellite exhibitions, not to mention films, performances and endless rounds of cocktail parties, the experience can be overwhelming. Where to start? Chin watches lnstagram for events that look interesting and goes from there; she suggests not over-planning the experience. "The spontaneity is good," Chin says. She also recommends the smaller, more intimate satellite shows; Design Miami is one of her choices. Four Seasons Hotel Miami will host a pop-up art show during this year's festival, showcasing the paintings of Antonio Dominguez de Haro, a native of Spain, and the pop art of Miami favourite Romero Britto, originally from Brazil.

DON'T-MISS DESIGN SHOP
Preparing for an interior project of your own? Stop by one of Chin's favourite vendors: tile and stone showroom Ceramic Matrix in the Design District, which primarily works with design professionals but opens its doors to the public. an indication of the flexibility that Chin so appreciates. "Ceramic Matrix has been incredibly cooperative, as they understand the creative process," she says. Typically, for a specific project, she'll shop for stone slabs and handpick each piece before submitting drawings detailing her desired materials. When Chin reaches the point of providing CAD design files, Ceramic Matrix "executes them without fail." The company also "offers the technical cuttings that are required for intricate designs," she says. “They are always open to ideas. even if it is something out of their comfort zone.” Their openness helps Chin "keep thinking outside the box."

ODP Bringing Back The Gold & Bronze Medals!

O’Donnell Dannwolf + Partners recently won two awards in the 2016 Kitchen & Bath Design Awards from Kitchen & Bath Design News magazine.

Winning First place in the Best Powder Room category for their project named “James Bond Powder Room” and Third place place in the Best Kitchen over $100,000 category for the “Kitchen with Distilled Views” project, Lachmee Chin and Kurt Dannwolf are simply thrilled.

Chin, who is heading the Interior Design department stated, “Being rewarded for projects we put so much thought into is incredibly gratifying.”

Kurt Dannwolf, one of the principals of the firm, qualified both projects as memorable. “Memorable projects are either projects that have been the most challenging or projects for which we’ve been given carte blanche. The James Bond Powder Room certainly met both requirements."

The firm was tasked with creating his and her separate powder room to express owners’ individual styles. Because powder rooms aren’t typically designed for a man, they opted for a very masculine concept — that of a classic black tuxedo with black being used as the jumping off point with a peek-a-boo of white. Black marble walls were carved out with circles of silver leaf to form a super pattern allowing the chrome ceiling mounted faucet to shine as a jewel piece; dark or black materials with beautiful pieces of stone were mixed. In spite of the multitude of materials and patterns used, not one was overpowering the other resulting in a serene room.

“The Kitchen with Distilled Views project was challenging” said Dannwolf. “We needed to create an oversized kitchen that could be closed off and used as a gourmet kitchen for staff when the owners were entertaining without compromising the sophisticated look and feel.”

The team created a large breakfast, casual dining, entertaining island with custom stained cabinets that were wrapped with stone, making the island appear like a floating rectangle rather than a utilitarian kitchen island.

In the event there were staff, doors would pocket out from behind a canted plaster wall that formed the ceiling plane leading from the hallway into the kitchen. An additional door hidden into the canted wall led into a 10’ x 4’ pantry. The kitchen spatial arrangements allowed for ease of use and for at least 4 staff members to work comfortably between the large island and back counter. This resulted in a gourmet chef kitchen with maximum functionality, with each details created from architectural forms to maintain the sophisticated look.

Paramount At Miami World Center Progress

The project began drilling pilings at the end of last year. As of today, all piles have been installed. Next, the site is geared to have the mat foundation, over 12,000 cubic yards of concrete, poured in October before the project goes vertical by year end.

Paramount is part of the $1.7 billion Miami Worldcenter mixed-use development which is aiming toward an end-year 2018 completion date.

One Thousand Museum Progress

First GFRC permanent formwork panels in place (Level 15)

Realiza Arquitetura And ODP Architecture & Design — A Powerful Collaboration

We’re excited to share the news that ODP Architecture & Design and Realiza Arquitetura will partner on select projects, allowing for both firms to expand on their market reach. Realiza Arquitetura is a well established firm in Brazil with 32 years of experience building residential, retail, commercial and industrial projects.

ODP Architecture & Design is an award winning full service architecture and interior design firm based in Hollywood, FL offering services from master planning through interior design and FF&E procurement. ODP is currently the Architect of Record for Zaha Hadid's 62-story ultra luxury 1000 Museum Residences in Miami, FL.

Together, as a team, ODP and Realiza Arquitetura bring over 40 years of combined experience with one mission in mind: Deliver more than what their clients could have ever imagined.