A family villa on the Florida waterfront saves its surprises for the rear elevation

Occupying a waterfront site in Golden Beach, Miami, this family villa, titled Parkway Residence, was specifically shaped so as not to dominate the lot, with a modest street façade that opens up to the rear views. Designed by KoDA (Kean Office for Design and Architecture), the house was a response to a client request for an indoor-outdoor lifestyle for their family of five. 

A family villa tailor made for its clients

Wesley Kean, KoDA’s principal, describes the project as a ‘layered sequence of spaces defined by programmatic volumes and curated gardens’, made trickier by the wedge-shaped plot that shrank the width of the waterfront façade. 

The front of the house represents a classic modernist frame, meticulous in its detailing. Recessed balconies give the run of bedrooms on the upper floor their own outdoor space, while entrance sequence is signalled by a wall that ‘reaches out’ towards the street.

The entrance leads to a ground floor arranged into three main pavilion areas, a service space, informal reception areas and a more formal entertaining space. KoDA has grouped these ‘pavilions’ around a central courtyard, while to the rear, the main rooms are unified by openings that lead onto the pool deck and garden, uniting informal and formal spaces when the glazed doors are opened up. There’s also an outdoor kitchen here, as well as secluded seating areas. 

On the floor above are two concrete framed bedroom spaces, connected by a suspended bridge that runs across the double height central space. On one side, the children’s bedrooms, on the other, the principal suite. To make the most of furthest reaching views, the latter is slightly angled, giving the rear façade a very different character to the front.

Materials include exposed concrete, natural stone and wood cladding, while structural concrete columns are bold and sculptural, almost brutalist in form. The architects note that the central courtyard also helps with ventilation, with a stack effect that draws air through the living spaces and up through the heart of the house.

KoDA is based in Miami and has won a clutch of awards for its residential work. The studio has also built builds work and retail projects, alongside making civic spaces and art installations.  

KoDAMiami.com