Zaha Hadid Architects designs ‘new beginning’ for collapsed Miami condo building

The ZHA building will be built on the site of the former Champlain South Tower at 8777 Collins Avenue in Miami, Florida – a 40-year-old apartment block which disastrously collapsed in  June 2o21, killing 98 people in one of the deadliest building failures in US history.

Property developer DAMAC, which bought the 0.72ha plot last July, announced this week that it has submitted two design variations by ZHA, based on a common theme, as part of a planning application to the Town of Surfside. 

The two designs both feature a 12-storey luxury ocean-front condominium block with 57 apartments, varying in size between 370m² and 1,400m². One design steps in on the south elevation while the other has consistent elevations on all sides

The building will also feature a communal rooftop pool with direct views of Downtown Miami, an indoor exercise pool, and a spa and gym with views to the exterior landscape.

Some family members’ who lost loved ones in the collapse had hoped the site could be turned into a permanent memorial.

However, the Town of Surfside instead opted to commemorate the victims elsewhere and DAMAC purchased the beachside plot for $120 million in 2022.

The DAMAC commission is the second Miami project for the London-based firm, following its One Thousand Museum Tower, featuring a curving exoskeleton, which opened in 2019.

Practice director Chris Lepine said the firm was ‘honoured’ to have been chosen for the project, adding: ‘While no work of architecture can ever remove the pain of the past, nor should it, a truly ambitious work of architecture can respect such a significant site. It’s a great responsibility to be providing this vision for Surfside.’

DAMAC said the two design variations were ‘based on alternative interpretations of the town planning ordinances’.

The Dubai-based developer said both designs were intended to ‘emulate the ebb and flow of the ocean’ to animate the precision-engineered façades, with sculptural forms and staggered balconies which never align vertically to give variety to every floor and ‘emphasize horizontal movement’.

DAMAC international senior vice president of communications Niall McLoughlin said ZHA had ‘raised their own bar once more with these two design variations, expertly weaving together form and space to engage the senses, and create an unrivalled ultra-luxury experience and a true sense of place’.

He added: ‘We know we cannot replace what was so painfully lost, but it is our desire that the building honours and respects its location at the heart of Surfside’s community and offers a sense of closure to the tragic event of the past while also providing a sense of a new beginning.’

The original 1981 Champlain South Tower suffered a partial ‘pancake collapse’ at 1.30am on 24 June 2021, resulting in 55 of the building’s 136 flats being entirely destroyed.

A structural engineer’s report, drafted before the collapse in 2018 and subsequently published by the City of Surfside, revealed widespread problems had been found with the beachside block – including ‘significant cracks’ – requiring extensive repairs ‘in the near future’.

In the document, drawn up by Morabito Consultants ahead of the 40-year recertification of the block, the engineers had described a 'major error in the development of the original contract documents prepared by William M Friedman & Associates Architects Inc. and [now dissolved] Breiterman Jurado & Associates, consulting engineers'.

They warned: ‘The main issue with this building structure is that the entrance drive/pool deck/planter waterproofing is laid on a flat structure. Since the reinforced concrete slab is not sloped to drain, the water sits on the waterproofing until it evaporates.'

At the time of the building collapse, roof repairs were underway, but concrete restoration had not yet begun.

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) continues to lead an ongoing federal investigation into the collapse, which began days after the disaster.

Investigation works have included non-destructive testing of debris from the 12-storey building in order to understand why a portion of the building suddenly fell, and to recommend changes to regulations and building codes to avoid similar disasters.

NIST has said the investigation of the Champlain Towers South collapse is 'one of the most complex and challenging of its type ever undertaken, with no obvious initiating event for the collapse'. The agency expects to complete its investigation in spring 2024, and publish a report on its findings one year later.

 

We are pleased to announce that #DAMAC International has submitted an application for planning approval to the Town of Surfside, #Miami, featuring two design variations from the award-winning British architecture and design firm Zaha Hadid Architects’ (ZHA). pic.twitter.com/fga9lLU1lp

— DAMAC Properties (@DAMACOfficial) June 13, 2023