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Globe and Mail
2 days ago
- General
- Globe and Mail
Contemporary Architecture That Rethinks Florida's Coastal Identity
"Studio KHORA's radical departure from nostalgic replicas embraces climate-conscious forms, challenging conventions by constructing meaning through spatial contrast, symbolic fragmentation, and coastal resilience." Studio KHORA pushes the boundaries of modern design for waterfront homes, reshaping Palm Beach and Boca Raton into a new architectural dialogue. To speak of architecture in Palm Beach, one must now speak of rupture. Studio KHORA—recognized as one of the top Florida architects —has entered the dialogue not as a passive translator of past aesthetics but as an author of something wholly new. This is not nostalgia made concrete. It is a language of absence and presence, built for the epoche of our time: a climate of shifting oceans, technologies that render permanence unstable, and an American lifestyle that can no longer afford imported illusions. The firm's arrival signals a withdrawal from the ornamental and a turn toward the elemental. Here, design becomes a trace of what remains when tradition evaporates under the Floridian sun. Walkthough Video: I House - 2633 Spanish River RD, Boca Raton - Studio KHORA In this project, the home is not an object; it is a performance. In Boca Raton, where the iconic I House at 2633 Spanish River Road was brought into being—a top Boca Raton architects moment, awarded by the AIA—we see the philosophical inversion of classical tropes. Columns are not revived but referenced, spatially resisted, and then negated through alignment, proportion, and void. The I House was composed not to imitate, but to other classical design—allowing its clean contemporary lines to emerge through contrast. This technique is not homage, but critique: a spatial différance that allows contemporary identity to emerge from the very rejection of imported forms that never belonged to the landscape they occupy. What Studio KHORA constructs, instead, is an architecture that speaks to the real: hurricanes, humidity, the ocean's edge. It is a text written in passive ventilation, in solar glass, in the dynamic voids that resist flooding. The Palm Beach architects of record are not just making homes—they are making time visible. In this, the home is a syntax. Windows do not just open; they interrogate. Rooflines do not just shelter; they punctuate. Facades do not represent but rather interrupt, like a stammer in an otherwise smooth narrative. Here, the sign does not mirror the thing. It exposes it. For ten consecutive years, Studio KHORA has been named among the top 50 coastal architects in the U.S.—a recognition not merely of form, but of form as resistance. These structures are not objects for the eye but conditions for thought. And it is within this fracture, this refusal of the easy image, that the top Florida architects have created a new aesthetic for the American coastal home: one that listens not to what architecture once was, but what it might become.
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Travel + Leisure
23-06-2025
- Travel + Leisure
These New Waterfront Villas in Floria's Key West Have Private Pools, Personalized Concierge Service, and Some of the Best Views in Town
Lunara Bay is a collection of 26 waterfront homes in Key West, Florida, which feature four to eight bedrooms, private swimming pools, and ample outdoor spaces for entertaining. The sprawling residences boast curated art, custom millwork, spa-inspired bathrooms, gourmet kitchens, and an outdoor grill; some villas also have private docks and firepits. Each home is serviced by a concierge who can assist in planning excursions and tours, booking restaurant reservations, or arranging private chef-prepared dinners. Key West visitors have a new way to experience the destination, famous for its vast coral reefs teeming with tropical fish and rainbow-hued conch houses. Lunara Bay, a collection of 26 luxury waterfront estates, opens for stays starting July 1. The new four- to eight-bedroom private villas—the island's largest waterfront accommodations—are managed by travel platform Brightwild, which specializes in blending the comforts of a home with the service and design details of a five-star resort. 'When we started Brightwild, our mission was simple: connect people in real life,' Billy Spottswood, CEO of Brightwild, tells Travel + Leisure. 'We believed that travel, when done right, could bring people closer—not just to new places, but to each other. With Lunara Bay, we set out to bring that mission to life and went all in." Each family-friendly residence features a swimming pool surrounded by a lush lawn (and a fence, making it both child- and pet-friendly), spa-inspired bathrooms with rainfall showers, a gourmet kitchen equipped with a Viking range, and an outdoor grill. Many of the homes also have private docks and firepits. Each villa is designed with curated art, custom millwork, and ample outdoor spaces to entertain—or to fully lean into vacation mode with a book on a poolside lounger. Many of the villas have private docks. To make the most of a Lunara Bay stay, visitors can also work with a dedicated GEM or Guest Experience Manager—essentially a concierge who can come up with bespoke itineraries, plan excursions like guided fishing trips or family sandbar outings, and book coveted reservations to some of Key West's buzziest restaurants. These pros can also help ensure a smoother on-site stay for guests by pre-stocking their kitchen or arranging a private chef-prepared dinner. 'Our team of GEMS will be your guide and connection to the local culture,' Spottswood says. 'They will help guests plan the extraordinary, but we also know that unforgettable trips are shaped by the moments in between—the spontaneous ones, the shared laughter, the small joys that can't be planned but can be made possible." Nightly rates at Lunara Bay start from $1,200, and you can book your stay at
