The WELL Coconut Grove

The inspirational design was motivated by the distinctively different character of the South of Fifth neighborhood in comparison to the rest of South Beach. The neighborhood here is more about exclusivity and serenity than 24-hour energy and activity, though excitement and entertainment are never more than a few steps away. An intricate façade of patterned glass appears to fade as it rises toward the sky, seeming to dematerialize into the atmosphere. This makes the building’s aesthetic refined and elegant, with only 10 full-floor residences, each occupying its own floor and offering 360-degree views of the Atlantic Ocean and city.

“The idea for this building is that it appears to dematerialize as it rises upwards and that it reflects the surrounding landscape of sand, sea and sky, through a design strategy that allows it to implicitly interpret the environment,” says its Architect, Rene Gonzalez. GLASS takes visual cues from the gradations of color between the ocean and the sky - with shifting colors working their way from dark to light as the building ascends, becoming ever-more translucent as it rises.

Entering at the ground level, the concept for GLASS becomes an immersive environment of natural light and water evocative of the nearby beach. The visual effect of glass rippling along the exterior walls mimics the sea against “shoreline” elements like porous Coquina stone, fragments of shale and coral, and small rectangles of smooth, blue Macauba quartzite.

Rene has been included in more than 150 national and international publications, receiving Metropolitan Home magazine’s Home of the Year Award for design excellence in addition to being honored by Conde Nast’s House & Garden as one of 50 international designers that represent the future of design. His unique approach has certainly not gone unnoticed by his peers: Rene is the only Miami architect to receive a National American Institute of Architecture Design Award in the last 10 years for a project in South Florida. He is also the first architect in 50 years to be twice honored for Miami projects (in 2011 for Alchemist and in 2006 for Karla).

GLASS embodies Terra’s approach to responsible development that seeks to strengthen neighborhoods through an appropriate sense of scale, forward-thinking design, and innovative placemaking. In the case of GLASS, zoning and permitting would have allowed up to 45 units on the site, but Terra downscaled to only ten units to maintain the boutique atmosphere and small density of the residential blocks which make up South of Fifth’s interior. Because exclusivity commands a premium price, residents enjoy strong inherent value while the community maintains its charm..