An In Depth Look At Apartments/Lofts In Miami

Posted on: May 27th, 2010 | 32 Comments

This is Day 128 of the Slow Home Project and we need you to join us in our quest to evaluate the design quality of houses in nine North American cities in nine months. This week we are analyzing apartment/lofts in Miami and today we are going to be doing an in-detail review of the organization question on the Slow Home Test.

For today’s “In Detail” episode, we are looking at Organization in apartment/ loft floor plans. Remember that the Slow Home Test says for a house to have good organization; “like” spaces should be grouped together, circulation should be kept to a minimum and all principal rooms should have a good connection to the outdoors.

We have gathered several plans from the Miami area that show examples of both good and bad organization. For today’s “Design Exercise” we would like you to post an example of an apartment/ loft floor plan that you feel demonstrates either good or bad organization and leave us a comment as to why you feel that way so the group can have a discussion.

Here are our examples of both good and bad organization – we have broken them into the principles of proportion, circulation and geometry.

1. This plan has bad proportion – it is long and narrow and will be dark at the back of the unit.

2. This plan also has bad proportion – the den space is too far from the light to be an effective room.

3. This is an example of good proportion – all the principal rooms have good access to light.

4. Although this plan has good proportion, it has bad circulation with a long hallway to access the bedrooms.

5. This plan has bad circulation with a large “L” shaped hallway.

6. This is an example of good circulation with very minimal hallways.

7. This also has good circulation for a small unit – note the efficient, but private, access to the bathroom.

8. This is an example of bad circulation with the door to the bedroom limiting furniture placement in the living room.

9. This is an example of how a split bedroom unit should have its doors placed for effective circulation.

10. The last two examples are how the geometry of the building can be a problem to effectively lay out the unit plan. In both these cases, the architectural design of the building’s exterior is creating strangely shaped and almost uninhabitable rooms.

Join us tomorrow where we will be reviewing the Design Project submissions from this week as well as awarding the Slow Homer of the Week award!

  • MollyK

    BradW,

    If you’re out there I hope you read this. I saw that comment yesterday and thought it was strange, but decided to move on since I had no idea what it was referencing. Glad I didn’t chime in…

    PLEASE don’t stay away…Slow Home isn’t the same without you. I’ve already noticed your absence lately and don’t like it a bit. Who else provides such wonderful links to the world of design. (I meant to tell you that the Miami link you put up last week was great. What a difference between that dramatic, 2-story home and the courtyard bungelow. Frankly, I preferred the courtyard design. Incidently, my favorite video was on Ray Kappe…man, I just love his home.) Who am I going to have lively discussions with? Who do I think of when I see chairs that look like artwork? Please come back…I miss you.:(

  • MollyK

    OK…on to today’s exercise…

    http://www.cityplacesouthtower.com/floorplans.html

    Organization can be a hair-pulling experience because you are weighing several factors. Which carries the most weight?

    The link above shows a floorplan that addresses proportion and circulation (#1 and #2 of John’s discussion). The problem is that one criteria is good and one is bad.

    -The proportion is bad…a long, deep unit that forces the kitchen & dining to the rear, thus reducing their access to natural light. Looking closer, the balcony is enclosed with walls which further reduces the flow of natural light into the unit.

    -HOWEVER, the circulation is good…there is minimal circulation AND the door to the bedroom is further back from the front of the unit. As John & Matthew pointed out, the door placement allows more flexibility in focal points and furniture arrangement in the living room.

    Soooo…how DO you score the Organization category in this situation? Which factor carries more weight with the scorer? And does it depend partly on the overall design of the unit?

    This is a tough (judgement)call. I would not give Organization points because natural (passive) light seems more important to the overall livability of this unit…perhaps the livability of any multifamily residence for that matter.

  • MarisaM

    [img]floorplans19.jpg[/img]

    So here is my pick for the day! It is in the mayfair building posted by Aaron.

    I think it has good organization for its space. I’ll walk through my thought process for this one.
    1. All major rooms have natural light although the kitchen is a little far from the windows.
    2. The rooms that don’t need light (aka bathroom and laundry room) is at the back. I really like where the bathroom is positioned in this floor plan.
    3. The hallway into the bedroom cuts the dining and living room in half. The hallway gives enough room to furnish both areas.
    4. The bedroom hallways waste minimal space and offer much storage at the end.

    I really like this layout! I’d live here.

  • MarisaM

    [img]1_floorplans19.jpg[/img]

    So that image didn’t work.

    Here is direct link to the floorplan.

    http://www.dienerproperties.com/images/Brickell-Avenue/Sky-Palace/floor_plans_19.jpg

  • nicole

    [img]indetail1.jpg[/img]

    http://www.epicmiami.com/flash/pdf/Tower%2001-02.pdf
    Epic_As originally posted by Molly.

    Unique floor plate
    Surprized by the circulation. After the first glance, I thought that the circulation would have been worse than it actually was due to the shape. Yes, there is a waste of space, but it is pretty minimal.

    There are many percular angles, but the layout of the space is very well suited to the shapes. Entry has some concerns regarding storage, but that is another conversation.

    Porportion – because this is a ‘corner’ unit, the light is well suited to the main spaces. The ‘dark’ spaces are the washrooms, entry and corridors.

  • nicole

    [img]1_indetail1.jpg[/img]

    _will try that one again.

  • Eric S.

    Note:

    The software that displays the images in the comments works best if the image is a 72DPI jpeg and maximum 1000 pixel length or width. Anything larger than that and it may display that strange purple box.

    If you have any questions regarding this, feel free to send me an email at webmaster@theslowhome.com

    Regards,
    Eric S.

  • Allie G

    http://www.kafka-franz.com/images/500-west-A1.pdf

    This apartment has relatively poor porportion as the living room is the size of the dining room and the kitchen put together. On the other hand, they are all relatively close to a window and would be well lit by sunlight.

    For circulation, the entry way wastes a bit of space by having a hall way, but it’s not overbearing. Once the hallway is done, there is good circulation through the back of the room – the living room, dining room and kitchen have good circulation. The size and shape of the living room is also awkward which would make it difficult to place furniture and utilize the space efficiently. Because of all this, I would say it’s a mediocre to poor display of both circulation and porportion.

  • Tara

    http://www.biscaynelandingmiami.com/images/floor%20plans/twrs1-2c.jpg

    This is a bit of a different building. The plan is long and narrow but the side-by-side layout of the units allows for windows on multiple sides. The way the units are staggered also allows for windows on the sides of the unit, though privacy could be an issue if windows or balconies of other units are in close proximity.

    Considering the long nature of the unit, I think the circulation is well done. A single hallway through the middle of the unit acts as the path towards all rooms and the straightness of the hallway provides for minimal ciruclation. The hallway also acts as a seperator for the public living areas and the bedrooms.

  • MollyK

    Hello again,

    The Mayfair…
    -Circulation not bad, except the hallways in the bedrooms are an issue. But I’m never quite sure whether that issue belongs to the Organization or Bedroom category.
    -Proportion, however, is the problem. Long, deep unit with large walls that run along the L/D area. Plus, a west-only solar orientation means this unit will be dark until late afternoon. And even then I question the amount of light that will travel to the kitchen.
    Once again, do you hold circulation more important for livability or is it natural light based on proportion that is key?

    Before solar orientation was combined in the Environmental Performance category it had its own category (Orientation) and point value. This unit would clearly not get the points for solar Orientation. (Personally, I miss that category.)
    Anyway, I would not give Mayfair the Organization points because its proportion reduces natural light in the unit.

    As for Epic…
    -This a great example for John’s discussion of “peculiar geometries”. There are problems, particularly in the living/dining area; but surprisingly there is a decent wall for a bed in both bedrooms.
    -Once again there are conflicts within the criteria…the proportion is long BUT shallow which, as John said, provides more natural light and visual access to the principal rooms. But I found at least half of the circulation space (the hallways in the back of the unit) to be dark and maze-like. Plus, one has to walk almost to the front door to get to the Master suite from the K/L/D area.
    -I could see Organization going both ways…I didn’t give it points because of the circulation problem and the darkness that resulted from
    it.

  • PeterB

    [img]viceroyb.jpg[/img]

    I took a look at the Viceroy Unit B. It’s organization is actually laid out nicely. Although it does have geometrical walls, it does it nicely with straight walls incorporated in the design allowing people to actually furnish the rooms unlike the examples given by John and Matthew. As well like spaces are close to windows as this corner unit has panoramic windows.

  • Athena

    [img]hibiscusmiamiapartment.jpg[/img]

    This is the Hibiscus for New Barn Apartments. I found it was good organization because there’s a semi-private entry to the bath. Also the bedroom door is not interfering with the furniture that would be placed in the living room. The Living Room has a focus wall, and the dinign room also has window space as well. The plan itself is not long and narrow. And the kitchen is not too far from a window.

    I think it is a pretty good plan for organization for a 735 Sq.Ft arpartment!

  • JPHH

    [img]1_floorplan.jpg[/img]

    This is from Viceroy unit G. I randomly picked a place that was rated in the slow category to see if it did meet the organization. I think this is a good example it has a path for circulation down the middle separating the living and kitchen. The only concern is if the kitchen would receive much natural light. The windows also angle in which I think makes some room for a small table outside.

    I just noticed that PeterB has also look at the Viceroy his unit being a corner and mine in the middle.

  • MollyK

    Allie G,

    Your example is rather interesting in that based on the room labels the area beside the kitchen is totally devoted to lots of circulation. Yet it seems a better dining table location than the area designated on the plan.
    Based on that odd space and the long, dark hallway leading from the entry, overall circulation is questionable.
    However, the proportion of the unit (its size based on the 4 exterior walls–not the individual rooms) is ok. All principle rooms have windows and access to the outdoors and natural light.

    I can’t believe there is a condo in Miami that doesn’t have a bidet. Perhaps all is not lost.:)

  • MollyK

    I agree with both PeterB and JPHH on their observations of Organization…

    JPHH, the kitchen will have natural light only in the mornings since the solar orientation is to the East. Thank goodness the unit is not exceedingly long and narrow or the problem would be exponentially worse.

    PeterB, the angles in this unit are quite benign compared to some others. And the proportion is ok…the unit has an advantage being on the corner.

    These 2 units appear to hold up to John’s 3 Organization criteria pretty well and HEY…2 more units without bidets. Things are looking better.;)

  • bbhorner

    Aqua Apartments – Gorlin Floorplan

    http://www.kevintomlinson.com/condos/floorplans/aqua_condos/gorlin/residences302-902.pdf

    This is a huge apartment and the rooms are well proportioned and some seem overly large. In terms of three criteria for a well organized home, proportion, circulation and geometry the apartment is just ok. As mentioned earlier the main living spaces are huge, but i feel that the private spaces such as bedrooms are small compared to the rest of the space. The circulation is alright with a main foyer area at the entrance that directs you to the different living spaces. The negative in terms of circulation is the expansive hall that runs along the back of the house and leads to the bedrooms. It will be a dark corridor and takes up a lot of extra space just for circulation. The geometry of the building is alright. the bedrooms are a basic rectangle that makes arranging furniture easy. In the living room and kitchen area there is an angled wall of windows that makes the room an odd shape however it is not as bad as the floorplan mentioned in the web blog that created a space that, “what else can you do there except have a cigarette and look at the view?” So in summary the organization of this apartment is ok. like spaces are grouped together but there is a large hallway and a awkward angled wall of windows

  • Deng

    [img]twrs12c.jpg[/img]

    This apartment layout is very narrow causing the kitchen to be very distance from the living room windows. Also, a lot of space is wasted in the circulation of the apartment (distance from Foyer to living room.
    For a 3 bedroom apartment, there is certainly a lack of windows. The long walk to and from the foyer to the living would be a underground cave!
    As for organization: the size of the kitchen is not proportionate to the size of apartment- it could be bigger.
    The living room is in a good position: windows, good focal point and roomy enough for a full furniture set.
    The public washroom is probably not in the most convenient location- I would see myself using the Masterbath more.
    This design is not as bad as the geometric buildings that JB and MN analyzed but this apartment is not great either.

  • Deng

    [img]floorplans19.jpg[/img]

    My example of a good circulation design- this is also a split bedroom apartment.
    Very little space around the front entrance is wasted on circulation and the organization of space is good as well.
    The kitchen could be identified as being too far from the window but I think the location works for the space (although it could be larger). A dining room table can be placed without blocking the entrance of the left bedroom. The living room has a good focal point with sufficient space for furniture.
    The master bed room is larger than the living! Other than this issue- all other rooms are proportionate to the apartment.

  • Deng

    [img]floorplans19.jpg[/img][img]4_floorplans19.jpg[/img]

    Upload retry.

  • SangeetaG

    [img]org1.jpg[/img][img]org2.jpg[/img]

    I’m looking at two apartments.
    The 25 Biskayne Park (Unit C-9) 2 bedroom unit is gets a little messy in terms of organization. It has some awkward narrow areas such as the entry into the master bedroom. The real problem is bedroom #2 where the corner creates a lot of unusable space. I see that as a problem for many of the floor plans here.

    I find the kitchen a bit isolated from the main area, it lacks access to natural light. It could have been located where the master bath is, a least it will get some light from the windows by the living area. The living room is organized well with a wall that can serve as a focal point. The den location is bad, no light and it could have been a great place for an entrance closet and laundry area. Instead of wasting so much space in the apartment, they could have easily put in a nice lit den area close to the windows.

    In the second apartment located in 25 Biskayne Park, 3 bed apartment with the same problem. Too much circulation, especially from the entrance to the living areas. The kitchen is in a bad place, with again no natural light. The two bedrooms are a victim of 45 deg walls that create wasted spaces and awkward areas. I do like the living room as it has a focal point.

    I really think adding 45 deg walls can become problematic for organization. Unless of course it really helps the design make sense. In both the apartments, 45 deg walls don’t help with the organization of the spaces. It’s like a domino effect, one 45 deg walls, makes you want to make another to create a space, and it never stops, making space organization as well as furniture arrangement difficult.

  • Hilda

    [img]two872n.jpg[/img]

    This is one of the units I added, and after taking a look at the video I decided to try my hand at this again. Since something about the unit just rubbed me the wrong way. The placement of the rooms is okay, however, the reason I dislike this design will be the shape of the unit as the ultimate factor. The awkward angle seems that there will be too much wasted space, such as the long halllways.

  • Bell604

    [img]l3.jpg[/img]

    This 3 brd 2 bath apartment from “The Point” South Tower project is an end unit with very peculiar geometry. 2083 sqft, with good access to light from two long and thin terrace’s. The entry poses problems for organization. It has a nice closet off the front door, however, it opens into a large un-useable space. The formal dinning room is supposed to be part of this space, but it is really just filler. The small kitchen is closed up, and the living room is cut up between the breakfast area’s entry, the entry to the second bedroom, and the access to the Den/third bedroom. It does have nice access to sunlight, and a focus wall. But due to the strange geometry it’s actual useable space is much smaller then described. The combination of the entry and wasted space around the living room takes up a fair bit of the apartment, and generates organizational problems.

  • Cnick

    [img]1unitneo11111.png[/img]

    The unit I decided to analyze is in the Neo Lofts development in Miami. It has very odd angled walls which would make it much more challenging for proper furniture placement as was shown in the example video.

    The kitchen island may be difficult to use effectively as it is completely taken up by the stove top. If you are removing hot dishes or working alonside the stove to minimize mess without carrying stuff over floor space, then this island is a real problem. The pillar in the bedroom area is an attempt at seperating the spaces, but might further hinder proper furniture placement. There is no seperate entry area and just a door as you lead into the kitchen. This unit has no major living space and is proportionally messed as the 2 bedrooms take up the majority of the space. This unit would make much more sense as a one bedroom given the size constraints. The small area between the two bedrooms have no room for furniture and a dining table. Having two bedrooms in the open is also very odd and not private for any of its occupants and strikes me to be like a college dorm room.

    This plan has some major issues

  • Kadoman

    I actually posted the very last floor plan that John and Matthew covered. It was kind of shocking to me that an apartment could be built like that. Like I said in my review, the only real positive is the windows which would provide quite the city view.

  • Hawerchuk#10

    [img]1_mz00566coralfp.jpg[/img]

    The floor plan is the Coral from the Hollywood Ocean Palms Condo units located on Ocean Drive.

    I wanted to do a further examination of this floor plan, one of which I had chosen for the Tuesday exercise of this week.
    This floor plan could score a point for the one aspect that the main living area and the master bedroom are connect nicely to the outside terrace. However, the circulation is awful. The central hub (the master bath and WIC and laundry area take up a lot of space and force a walkabout around the space. Thus this plan would fail to gain a point on that aspect.

  • Andrew

    [img]721878.gif[/img]

    I think the circulation in this plan is good. Most of the flow is concentrated in the central part of the floor plan with the principal spaces existing around the perimeter, which has reduced the amount of space dedicated to circulation. The left edge of the plan is rounded and it feels almost like the whole plan has a smooth circular flow, with like-spaces grouped together.

    This is the 3 bedroom apartment form the following link: http://www.move.com/apartmentsforrent-detail/8870-sw-72-place-suite-b105_miami_fl_33156_C721878?source=a29934

  • Murray

    I have enjoyed this day’s conversation and examples – the good, the bad, and the ugly. Thanks to all who have spent their time participating. And thanks to John and Matthew for the introductory video.

    The topic, and the wide variety of examples provided, has set me wondering about the design process for any type of dwelling. Does one design from the inside out so that the perimeter of the dwelling reflects the interior structure. Or, vice versa, does one start with a shell and fill it as best (?) can be achieved?

    Does one particular approach lead to better organization/circulation?

    With a renovation, such as our design exercises, we work within the existing structure, though there can be a case for an addition made at times, but if one is starting from scratch where does one begin?

  • Dan M

    http://www.uptownmarinalofts.condoage.com/aventura/floor_plans/b.pdf

    This is from the Uptown Marina Lofts, unit type b (the other units are interesting as well).
    The theatre room near the foyer will be quite dark as the apartment is long and narrow, however, utilizing this space for an entertainment room, for which darkness can be good, is a bonus for the utilization of the dark space.
    Due to its depth the unit seems too drawn out, and due to its size and the desire to make it an open plan space, the circulation suffers, but the proportions are good. It is not a horrible space, but it would feel cramped, and with only one bank of windows, it would feel dark near the back areas (kitchen, dining, entertainment room)

  • Kadoman

    [img]goodmiamidesign.jpg[/img]

    The Met 3 Unit BA appears to me to have the hallmarks of good organization. There is not much room devoted to circulation, and the rooms are placed in such a way that there shouldn’t be excess foot traffic around the home.

    All principal living rooms, including bedrooms, have direct access to natural light. The only downside being the kitchen recessed into the rear of the house. However, the house is not so deep as to deny light to the kitchen.

    It’s actually quite easy to see when looking at the plan. Even the (not overly) eccentric building design has not impeded the floor plan too much. There are some angles in the bedrooms, but they are still easily furnish-able.

  • Tiffany

    [img]flato.jpg[/img]

    I chose to review the Infinity at Brickell, Flat O posted by Alejandro. I think that it has good proportions, being wider then it is deep and with the living space being a bit over half the space. I also feel that the circulation is great as it is really limited. It also has no crazy angles that have to be dealt with when doing a furniture layout. I could be tight to put in any sort of table, however this is a different problem.

  • Grace Coulter

    [img]e1.jpg[/img]

    I think this is a good example of organization. The bedrooms and main spaces all have light and are not too deep. The circulation is fairly concise. I think there are some other issues with the plan but the organization gets full marks.

  • Jessica

    [img]a12981.jpg[/img]

    http://www.aquabluerealty.com/floor_plan.php?table=NDRFloorPlans&type=ndr&id=2604

    CITY 24 Unit A1:

    The siting for Unit A1 is potentially questionable, given the kitchen to stairwell proximity, but a kitchen is not a sleeping area, and will certainly produce noise of its own, and potentially be a noise buffer.

    I may be off in my assessment, but I think Unit A1′s plan possesses good clarity in its layout and makes good use of its corner-unit location with minimal/proportional circulation space. Entry is, albeit, an odd form, but it is functional and provides direction into the suite proper. Though placed deep in the plan, the kitchen has access to daylight and view via the adjacent bank of windows–as does all primary living space in the suite.