Snøhetta designs mesh-covered office building for Miami Design District

International architecture studio Snøhetta has released designs for a mixed-use building in Miami covered in a bulbous “stainless mesh sunscreen”.

The Sweetbird North building, developed by Raycliff Capital and Miami Design District Associates, was designed to be eight storeys tall and will be located in Miami’s Design District, next to the distinct Museum Garage building.

“Snøhetta is excited for this opportunity to work with our partners in the Miami Design District to shape a new and distinctive contribution to a neighbourhood long recognised for its commitment to design,” said Snøhetta director Nathan McRae.

On its first and second storeys, the building will contain retail spaces, while floors three to eight will contain office spaces.

Images show a metal-plated base with interconnected columns extending upward. The building’s facade is semi-transparent with trees are planted along the terraces.

The building is wrapped in a glass facade and then a second mesh facade, which forms the columns. Large dimples are also distributed around the mesh layer to create an undulating surface.

“The building follows a clear structural logic, a regular cadence of columns and terraces that expand and modulate across the office floors, generating a dynamic silhouette when wrapped in a stainless mesh sunscreen,” said McRae.

“This layer acts as a veil to the planting and occupied terraces of the offices beyond, providing a depth that varies with the sun and time of day, at times opaque and reflective, dissolving to the transparent.”

“This composition rises from a distinct retail base, one fully committed to the life of the street,” he continued.

The building is set to contain offices for creative, luxury and cultural industries, according to the team, and will contain flexible floorplates for a variety of layouts.

The terraces and plantings are meant to “introduce permeability and calm” to tenants.

Construction is planned to begin in August this year, with completion slated for 2028.

It continues a westward expansion of the Miami Design District, which includes the area’s first residential apartment building designed by David Chipperfield Architects.

A sculptural block of buildings by Kengo Kuma and Associates is also underway in the neighbourhood, while Diller Scofidio + Renfro recently completed a Cartier store also wrapped in an undulating facade.

The images are courtesy of Snøhetta

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• Architecture