A family villa on the Florida waterfront saves its surprises for the rear elevation
KoDA’s Parkway Residence is a new family villa concealing an inner courtyard and waterside garden with far-reaching views

Receive our daily digest of inspiration, escapism and design stories from around the world direct to your inbox
Thank you for signing up to Wallpaper. You will receive a verification email shortly.
There was a problem. Please refresh the page and try again.
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.
The front façade at night
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 main reception room opens off the courtyard
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 view out across the water from the formal dining room
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.
The rear façade and pool deck at the Parkway Residence
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.
The bridge connecting the two bedroom wings
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.
The internal courtyard at the Parkway Residence
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.
Wallpaper* Newsletter
Receive our daily digest of inspiration, escapism and design stories from around the world direct to your inbox
Jonathan Bell has written for Wallpaper* magazine since 1999, covering everything from architecture and transport design to books, tech and graphic design. He is now the magazine’s Transport and Technology Editor. Jonathan has written and edited 15 books, including Concept Car Design, 21st Century House, and The New Modern House. He is also the host of Wallpaper’s first podcast.
-
When Doshi Levien met Giulio Cappellini
Designers Nipa Doshi and Jonathan Levien look back on their collaboration with design visionary Giulio Cappellini, Guest Editor of the Wallpaper* October 2023 issue
By Rosa Bertoli Published
-
We spend the night at The Peninsula London
We spend a night at The Peninsula London, which raises the bar for the premier Asian hospitality specialist
By Lauren Ho Published
-
Marina Abramović at the Royal Academy: trauma to transcendence
Marina Abramović at the Royal Academy of Arts in London is a solo show spanning five decades of practice. Amah-Rose Abrams reports
By Amah-Rose Abrams Published
-
Look inside Sixth&Blanco, Herzog & de Meuron’s first project in Texas
Step inside Sixth&Blanco by Herzog & de Meuron, as the Swiss studio reveals interior images of its first ever Texas design, a forward-thinking, sustainable and mixed-use scheme
By Ellie Stathaki Published
-
Madrone Ridge in California is conceived as habitat for both humans and nature
Madrone Ridge by Field Architecture, set in California’s Sonoma Valley, was designed to deepen its owners' relationship with nature
By Ellie Stathaki Published
-
Slot Canyon Residence balances openness and seclusion in Palm Springs
Slot Canyon Residence by RIOS, set in the Las Palmas neighbourhood of Palm Springs, strikes a balance between openness and seclusion
By Ellie Stathaki Published
-
'Emerging Ecologies' at MoMA explores the history of the 'green’ movement
'Emerging Ecologies' opens at MoMA in New York, curated by Ambasz Institute director Carson Chan and seeking the meaning of building 'green'
By Beatrice Galilee Published
-
This Miami office is a workspace filled with rawness and texture
A new Miami office by designer Clive Lonstein balances the warmth and texture of nature with modern workspace
By Ellie Stathaki Published
-
Bed-Stuy townhouse renovation elevates historic home through contemporary minimalism
Bed-Stuy townhouse renovation by Also Office with Colony brings together past and present through gentle design gestures and strategic redesigns
By Ellie Stathaki Published
-
Discover Diller Scofidio + Renfro’s Blue Dream house in the Hamptons
A new monograph captures Blue Dream house and the lengthy design and construction process of a quintessential example of contemporary Hamptons architecture
By Jonathan Bell Published
-
2023 Obel Award celebrates Kate Orff’s ecosystem-driven designs
Scape and its founder Kate Orff have scooped the 2023 Obel Award, which celebrates the landscape studio’s Living Breakwaters project
By Ellie Stathaki Published