MIAMI, FLORIDA
The Vertical bathroom is part of an apartment renovation inside of the Four Seasons Hotel & Residential Tower. The tower stands at 789 feet, the tallest, amongst the 307 high-rises in the city, where only 59 reach 400 feet or higher. This condominium hovers amid the clouds and overlooks the turquoise waters of Key Biscayne 780 feet below. This was the inspiration for the project. This renovation explores the elusive and edgeless boundary between the occupant’s daily processes of life and the unbelievable landscape of openness between the sky and ocean, found only in a space as remarkable as this.
The methodology began by examining concepts that would allow for better utilization of the existing floor area while enhancing one’s ocean view. The chosen scheme reorients the room about a freestanding 8’-0” long by 7’-0” high Caribbean Blue Quartzite wall. Spatially, this wall, serves as vertical dividing plane between the vanity area and shower zone but architecturally, it forms a single tangible division within a subtle palette of materials and textures. This bathroom uses designed minute details to create directionality, spatial differentiation, and task zoning, while the wall creates a strong visual gesture out to the spectacular view.
The material selection for the remaining elements in the room was chosen to complement and highlight the vein patterns present in the Blue Quartzite stone. The flooring is vanilla marble, which is neutral in background, yet has subtle light orange veins that reappears in the Caribbean Blue. In the shower zone, the importance of the Caribbean blue Quartzite is again reinforced with the use of a reveal in the vanilla marble wall that matches the height and width of the adjacent free standing wall. The result is an architectural haven that is well equipped with a sculptural tub, marble vanities and an integrated digital showering system. This created a set of guidelines that could be reinterpreted to create similarly stimulating spaces.