Landscape Architect Articles

Landscaped Layers for Miami Residential Complex01-11-24 | Feature

Landscaped Layers for Miami Residential Complex

AMLI MidTown Miami
by Landscape Design Workshop

A former railyard in Miami, Florida, was rehabilitated to become a mid-density, micro-neighborhood known as AMLI MidTown Miami. Finished in 2021, the landscape plan, which encompassed plants, hardscape, and water, was the work of Landscape Design Workshop guided by founder and principal Erez Bar-Nur. Completed outdoor spaces incorporate irrigation, lighting, pools, water features, a beach volleyball court, dog parks, kitchen areas, and more. Resident balconies overlook the outdoor amenities. The landscape architects were able to specify all program elements and influenced the massing of the architecture. The entire complex is LEED platinum certified. PHOTO CREDIT: AVATAR PRODUCTIONS

The 283,000-square-foot site relies upon horizontal levels of landscape that layer up vertically to make a 3D environment for residents and visitors. There was a total of 167,000 square feet of landscape. Each level has distinct program elements, including streetscape and public space on the ground level and a large pool deck on the uppermost level of the landscape. Native palms and hollies are planted around the site perimeter. Medium-height hollies were a solution to the fact that taller trees pose a risk to overhead power lines in stormy Miami. The rear side of the site has an all?(C)e of native royal palms (Roystonea elata) and hollies (Ilex attenuate) to screen the railroad line. A generously vegetated internal street breaks up the architectural massing and creates a landscape corridor through the project. Each level had its own requirements and microclimate, from the ground level with heavy traffic to the salt spray and wind-tolerant 9th floor. This specificity creates mini-ecosystems. PHOTO CREDIT: LANDSCAPE DESIGN WORKSHOP

The materials and plantings at ground level were specified to be robust enough for urban life and designed for maximum impact. The project's 13,000 shrubs and ground cover includes 47 species. The maintenance is meant to let the landscape live, not be clipped or shaped into uniformity. Season and climate were key to the planning of flowering, color, and foliage, ensuring constant change and interest. Three colors of concrete pavers from Belgard Pavers add patterned variety to this walkway. Besides these pavers, the 12 hardscape types included cast-in-place large pavers, travertine pavers around the pools, and porcelain tiles with different colors and shapes. Laminate wood panels were used in the fence.

All the lighting in the project was designed by Landscape Design Workshop who considered 24-hour use. The general contractor, John Moriarty & Associates, handled the installation. There were 33 species of trees and palms planted in the three locations that encompass 719 apartments. Height restrictions on the large site helped achieve a density different from the surrounding tall buildings that define this part of Miami.

Plants were selected for seasonal interest and benefit to pollinators and birds. The Shrimp plant (Justicia brandegeeana) in the foreground is one of the many varieties of butterfly-friendly flowers. In total, there were 80 different plant species - 23 of which are useful for pollinators and 25 are useful for birds. All plant species are either native or Florida climate-appropriate.

Two levels of planters were used to mask the 5' tall wells needed for the number of large trees planted on the structure. The total number of trees and palms numbered 738. Plants were layered to create a garden-like atmosphere, even along building circulation. The planters, pavers, and curbing along this walkway are made of cast-in-place concrete. In the planters are Rusty Fig trees (Ficus rubiginosa). The shrubs are 'Red Button' Red Button Ginger (Costus woodsonii), 'Lady Di' Parrot Beak Heliconia (Heliconia psittacorum), and Swiss Cheese (Monstera deliciosa). Inside the planters, 80 percent sand and 20 percent organic soils were specified for efficient drainage. A locally developed filtration product is added to ensure water cleanliness, essential in Miami, where seasonally intense storms mean rainfall must be cleaned and drained on-site before being released into the groundwater.

In this courtyard, a specimen Florida native tree known as Simpson's stopper (Myrcianthes fragrans) is planted in the middle of a fountain, constructed from cast-in-place concrete with stone veneer and custom-made, stainless-steel water spouts. The seating around the fountain is cast-in-place concrete with porcelain tile veneer.

A semi-public courtyard features a fountain, with ample seating nooks, and a bridge connecting two of the buildings and their landscapes passes overhead. The pavers on the left side are made from cast-in-place concrete. PHOTO CREDIT: AVATAR PRODUCTIONS

This pool deck on the 9th floor of the middle complex was designed for maximum socializing, with lots of cabanas and other nooks, fixed, movable seating, Wi-Fi coverage, and ample outlets. Pool fountains help mask the noise of the city and the building's mechanical functions. The project features 114 trees per acre, which is three times the Miami average according to the landscape architect.

The 9th-floor beach volleyball court doubles as an urban beach and has views of the surrounding city. The court is regulation size with professional-grade sand. This amenity is also used as an urban beach for events such as film screenings, which are projected on an adjacent blank building wall.

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AMLI MidTown Miami is a new, lush, mid-density micro-neighborhood that spans three city blocks. It is an urban transformation of a former railyard area made more powerful through landscape architecture. The project serves flexible - and changing - requirements for living and working. New patterns wrought by COVID-19-related changes to working require landscapes that are robust enough to let users find new patterns of use throughout the day.
This central Miami project has a rich range of little moments to discover. The landscape design entwines plants, hardscape, and water with the architecture and program. The power of the project lies in its set of multiple-level spaces strung along the complex, which combine to create an on-structure oasis. Residents are linked to the city while also giving them their private paradise.

Landscape Design Workshop, led by founder and principal Erez Bar-Nur, designed all the outdoor spaces on all levels including hardscape, planting, irrigation, lighting, pools, water features, a ninth-level beach volleyball court, dog parks, summer kitchens, and more. The landscape architectural firm refers to this project as the Landscape Layers.

The Urban Context
Great urbanism is unthinkable without landscape architecture. Landscape architecture at its best integrates all elements of the natural and built environment. It also links even the smallest project with the greater environment and ecosystem. AMLI MidTown accomplishes all of this, as a new residential anchor point north of downtown Miami.

Large development sites are rare in Miami, especially so close to Biscayne Bay. This site was once a Chiquita Banana railyard depot, which had become derelict, prime for transformation. Landscape Layers creates a sense of refuge from the city while embracing the urban. The development has varying degrees of porosity at the ground level - and much vegetation visible above. The community benefit of street trees is well documented, and this project also adds significant plant life for the city above grade.

High-density urban living is often high-rise centered, but this is not the only way. The European model, as seen in Amsterdam or Berlin, relies on a large site and mid-rise buildings to create a more livable, human scale. This model was used at AMLI MidTown and enabled the creation of a much more extensive environment than the typical tower-in-the-garden development. The landscape architects brought the site to life and wove it into the city's fabric.

The Place
AMLI MidTown Miami is a project that fits our era: sustainable, community-based, and responsive to emerging forms of flexible working and living. After all, what is better than having your personal public space mesh into the city around you, with a distinctly relaxing effect?

Completed in 2021, MidTown Miami covers a three-block site. Landscape Layers is a total of 167,000 square feet of outdoor space spread over multiple levels of three buildings that vary between eight and fifteen stories.

The landscape architects were involved from the early phases of the project and helped to shape the architecture. They created opportunities for the resulting layers of landscape to define the project's identity for residents and the public. As large as the complex is, the first thing most people notice is the landscape with its abundant plant life, flowing over and between buildings.

The Spaces
The project is layered over three major landscape levels, which can be inhabited on the horizontal plane but also enjoyed visually and vertically. From the semi-public and public street level to the 4th and 9th-floor pool decks, the lush vegetation defines and links spaces, creating a density of experience.

The landscape architects defined all the outdoor program elements. They chose to go for an open multiplicity, always offering the hint of more to discover. Green is abundant, in all senses of the word.

The ground level is semipublic, with the landscape binding the project into the city. Planted around the site perimeter on the public sidewalk in cast-in-place planting wells are native palms and hollies. Striking striped paving patterns and date palms welcome residents and visitors alike.

The ground floor units have direct street access, creating a porous boundary for the development. Each unit has a small, planted "porch" connected to the sidewalk by three steps.

A common courtyard at ground level is partly publicly accessible, like a secret neighborhood garden for those in the know. In the courtyard, a fountain moves over three levels.

Even the pet environment is not neglected, with three ground-level "dog welcome" areas. One dog area doubles as fire access, in a clever layering of program and code.

The next layer of landscape is on the 4th floor of the 2900- and 3100-block buildings. Palms line the 3100-block pool deck, and small pool fountains provide a background splash. While the space is made for sun-loving, water fun, it is also perfect for outdoor home offices.

On the large 3100-block terrace, plenty of space for relaxing and facilities for cooking outdoors can be found amid layers of vegetation, let to grow naturally.

The final landscape layer is the 9th-floor terrace and circulation of the 2900- and 3100-block buildings. It is the heart of the building - the largest open space for residents. The large pool has an island, complete with palms, as well as space for those in search of a quiet retreat.

A volleyball court doubles as an urban beach complete with film screenings, possibly due to clever positioning next to a blank building wall. Evening and night use were always considered and programmed.

Planting significantly sized plants in large numbers was a challenge that the landscape architects solved elegantly. Large raised planters, forming five-foot high walls were required structurally and turned into an asset. Lower planters with integrated seating and lighting were added alongside to break the massing.

Slim terraced gardens were thereby created alongside much of the building circulation, even nine floors above the ground. Bridges connect the three buildings, allowing a flowing experience of the landscape.

The plant palette is environmentally sensible and functionally beautiful, as well as wet and drought-season tolerant with low irrigation requirements. Locally grown Wild Date Palms (Phoenix sylvestris) are used throughout the project instead of other Date Palm species (Phoenix dactylifera), which are frequently imported to Miami from arid climates such as in Arizona. The imported palms are not as suited to Miami's extremes, especially the intense wet season and storms.

AMLI MidTown Miami builds a new environment for the city, level-by-level and layer-by-layer. As residents dream by the pool and pedestrians pass on the sidewalk under palm fronds, the landscape of the building welcomes the city in, adding to its richness.

TEAM LIST
Project Owner/ Client Name - AMLI Residential
Landscape Architecture - Landscape Design Workshop
Lead Landscape Architect - Erez Bar-Nur
Architect - Zyscovich Architects
Civil Engineer - Schwebke-Shiskin & Associates
General Contractor - John Moriarty & Associates of Florida
Project Landscape Contractor - Amaro Landscaping
Pools & Water Features - Dillon Pools