Like Father, Like Son

By Saxon Henry

Architect Hicks Stone picks up where his father, Edward Durell Stone, left off to modernize a historic condo.

The question "Which came first?" has a way of sparking heated debate. When applied to the relationship between interior design and architecture, however, there is often a hearty chorus of agreement where well-designed buildings are concerned. "With good interior design, the architecture should always be taken into consideration, as should what is appropriate for the client," explains designer Constantin Gorges. Every project he works on, he says, is based upon an equal regard for both.

True to his word, when Gorges designed an apartment in the historic building at 400 South Ocean Boulevard, he used the structure's modernist architecture as a starting point. Then he heeded his client's request to take full advantage of ocean views. The result is a chic hideaway that seems to have sprung from the pale aquamarine shallows near the shoreline below.

As the first condominium complex in the state of Florida, the building has pedigree: It was designed by Edward Durell Stone in 1964. Between 2001 and 2005, Hicks Stone, the lauded architect's son, and an architect himself, updated the common areas of the building, going back to his father's original drawings to include important details that had been passed over due to budgetary constraints.

"This design was modeled on Dad's New Delhi embassy, which was highly regarded," Stone says. "One of the wonderful things about it is that he took a very simply set of elements and fashioned a remarkably elegant building without lavishing a lot of expense on materials." Taking his father's vision into consideration, Stone redesigned the lobby areas, improved the lighting, replaced the painted concrete floor with travertine - which Durell Stone had specified - and updated the reflecting pool with a luminescent blue tile. Though it is a graceful element in the atrium, this shallow pool, dotted with planters that seem to float on their watery perches like lotus flowers, joins with several other architectural features to provide natural air conditioning.

"The fountains in the reflecting pool cool the air, convection currents bring breezes in through the openings on the sides of the building and warm air is drawn up through the opening in the roof," Stone explains. "These elements combine to create a design that is perfect for a hot climate." Stone praises his father's brilliance when he revisits projects like this one, and finds the process of updating Stone père's ideas rewarding. "I think working with Dad's drawings is easy for me because I know his vocabulary so well," says the architect, who was too young to have chosen the profession before his father's death in 1978. "This is a wonderful way for me to reconnect with him on a level that most children never have the opportunity to do once a parent is gone."

Stone's exterior renovations were winding down when Gorges went to work on his client's gutted apartment in mid-2004, and the designer was happy to have such an architectural gem to use as one of his inspirations. He created a grid pattern on the walls of the main living space, which imitates the interplay between the slim columnets and cantilevered balconies on the façade, and filled the area with aquamarine glass and mirror.

"My main goal was to provide an experience of encountering the sea," Gorges explains. "The way the glass shimmers when it interacts with light resembles the quality of water, and I chose to leave the wood grid natural because it reminds me of driftwood and brings the context of nature into the rooms."

The apartment's color scheme is also elemental. The master bedroom is awash in the palest turquoise, and touches of coral and aqua tones buoy the main living area, which is anchored by the cognac color of the dining room chairs and the datum line at ceiling-height that circumnavigates the space. Chair styles, chosen to imitate the divided wall panels, were arranged thoughtfully.

"I placed the furniture so that is wouldn't interrupt the flow of the space," Gorges says. "That's also why I picked open-backed chairs for the living room. Basically, I wanted everything to look as transparent and open as possible." The living room sofas were arranged for maximum water views. "The sofas face each other so that the thrust of the space is the vista beyond the windows," explains the designer. "I always try to create a context for clients that is both at home in its surroundings and one that fits who they are. The worst mistake that people can make is to fail to be true to themselves or to their chosen environments. After all, we express and identify ourselves through how and where we choose to live."