The Arquitectonica-designed SLS Brickell in Miami is the latest venture from mega-hotelier SBE (lead by Sam Nazarian) and top residential developers The Related Group (headed up by Jorge Pérez), in collaboration with creative partners Philippe Starck and José Andrés. After building up their trusted brand through hotels in destinations like Beverley Hills, Las Vegas and Miami’s South Beach, the SLS Brickell marks their first project combining a hotel with condominium residences.
With 133 hotel rooms and 450 residences, the SLS Brickell sits at the heart of Miami’s downtown financial district, forming a prismatic glass pivot rising up from the meeting point of two central avenues, Coral Way and South Miami Avenue. Arquitectonica designed the building as a public jewel, lighting it up for the night-time with blue pin lights stretching from sky to street, marking the corners of the facade.
With cultural destinations like the Pérez Art Museum Miami (PAMM) and Frost Museum of Science nearby, SLS Brickell has become a placemaker for Brickell – the developers designed restaurants and bars at ground level, looking to conjure a similar social dynamic to the lively hub of Lincoln Road.
'From the Markus Linnenbrink gigantic city facade to the video installations of Katja Loher, the mysterious sculpture of Bernardí Roig and the fantastic Ray Smith canvases in the residential lobby, we have filled the project with world-class museum art,' says The Related Group’s Carlos Rosso
The triangular plan dictated angular geometric references across the architecture. Arquitectonica principal Bernardo Fort-Brescia’s favourite parts of the building are the trampoline triangular balconies: ‘They cascade diagonally off the facades like wind-driven rain, or are seen from the street like steps rising to the sky. Because they don't align vertically, if one stands at their tip one floats over the street or looks up to the sky. One feels suspended in space,’ he says.
As well as the sharp, sleek design of the facade, distinguishing the project is an external mural by Markus Linnenbrink, his largest to date, which was chosen because of its vibrancy and reflection of Miami’s ‘colourful persona’. ‘From the very beginning of the process we knew we’d want a piece that would stop people and elicit a response from each and every one,’ says Carlos Rosso, president of The Related Group’s condominium development division.
‘SLS Brickell is a glimpse into the future of Brickell and the entire Greater Downtown Miami region. We brought the South Beach lifestyle to the middle of urban Brickell,’ says Rosso.
Yet SLS Brickell is still full of its own personality and plays a new role in the city, says Arash Azarbarzin, president of SBE. ‘We always say SLS South Beach and SLS Brickell are great sisters; they help and complement each other, but they have different personalities. Brickell’s personality is more urban, while South Beach’s is more resort.’ The SLS Brickell features over 15,000 sq ft of meeting space, a spa and two pools, offering residents as well as guests the possibility of a luxury hotel-style living.
The SLS Brickell lights up at night with a glitzy scheme of blue pin lights marking the angles of the facade across the length of the building
It is the first SLS project to also include condo residences, which will be soon be followed by SLS Puerto Madero
Arquitectonica's Bernardo Fort-Brescia says: ‘The design was intended to connect Brickell’s lively street life with SLS Brickell. The restaurants and bars that line the building’s sidewalk frontage are at the base of the triangular geometry of the design, which becomes the dominant vocabulary’
INFORMATION
For more information, visit the Arquitectonica website
-
Inside yacht maker Azimut’s horizon-expanding HQ, by Michele De Lucchi’s AMDL CircleThe design of Azimut’s headquarters in Piedmont, Italy, is open, adaptable, and befitting ‘a place of creativity’
-
‘Belonging’ – the LFA 2026 theme is revealed, exploring how places can become personalThe idea of belonging and what it means in today’s world will be central at the London Festival of Architecture’s explorations, as the event’s 2026 theme has been announced today
-
Composer Max Richter’s new trilogy turns Krug champagnes into musicIn a dialogue between taste and sound, Krug and the genre-defying composer embark on a musical journey that celebrates intentional craftsmanship
-
Ballman Khaplova creates a light-filled artist’s studio in upstate New YorkThis modest artist’s studio provides a creative with an atelier and office in the grounds of an old farmhouse, embedding her practice in the surrounding landscape
-
The most important works of modernist landscape architecture in the USModernist landscapes quite literally grew alongside the modern architecture movement. Field specialist and advocate Charles A. Birnbaum takes us on a tour of some of the finest examples
-
Jeanne Gang’s single malt whisky decanter offers a balance ‘between utility and beauty’The architect’s whisky decanter, 'Artistry in Oak', brings a sculptural dimension to Gordon & MacPhail's single malt
-
An idyllic slice of midcentury design, the 1954 Norton House has gone on the marketNorton House in Pasadena, carefully crafted around its sloping site by Buff, Straub & Hensman, embodies the Californian ideal of the suburban modern house embedded within a private landscape
-
Herzog & de Meuron and Piet Oudolf unveil Calder Gardens in PhiladelphiaThe new cultural landmark presents Alexander Calder’s work in dialogue with nature and architecture, alongside the release of Jacques Herzog’s 'Sketches & Notes'. Ellie Stathaki interviews Herzog about the project.
-
Meet Studio Zewde, the Harlem practice that's creating landscapes 'rooted in cultural narratives, ecology and memory'Ahead of a string of prestigious project openings, we check in with firm founder Sara Zewde
-
The best of California desert architecture, from midcentury gems to mirrored dwellingsWhile architecture has long employed strategies to cool buildings in arid environments, California desert architecture developed its own distinct identity –giving rise, notably, to a wave of iconic midcentury designs
-
A restored Eichler home is a peerless piece of West Coast midcentury modernismWe explore an Eichler home, and Californian developer Joseph Eichler’s legacy of design, as a fine example of his progressive house-building programme hits the market
