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Residence · South Florida

South Florida Retreat

A tropical-modern retreat grounded in shade, stone, and greenery.

Tropical-modern South Florida retreat with walnut and planted courtyards
Location

South Florida

Type

Residence

Status

BN2 Design study · not presented as a completed client commission

Imagery

Original BN2 design visualization · no project photographer

The brief

A tropical-modern retreat grounded in shade, stone, and greenery.

The imagined homeowner wanted a restorative tropical residence with privacy, deep shade and a strong relationship to planting—more intimate retreat than conventional open-plan showhouse.

South Florida · exact location withheld

Design intelligence

What the design needed to resolve.

01

What was unresolved

Generous rooms and exterior exposure lacked moments of enclosure. Without a stronger sequence, landscape, furniture and architecture would have read as separate gestures.

02

The spatial challenge

The challenge was to connect courtyards, water and interior gathering spaces while controlling glare and preserving quieter rooms for reading, work and retreat.

03

What changed

BN2 organized the plan around planted views and shaded thresholds. Darker walnut elements anchor circulation, while lighter plaster surfaces carry softened daylight deeper into the home.

04

Custom decisions

Integrated library walls, concealed media storage, a tailored kitchen and built-in dressing cabinetry establish function without introducing freestanding visual clutter.

Material logic

Selected for character, light and use.

Shell limestone responds naturally to the landscape; walnut gives the rooms gravity; warm limewash softens large wall planes. Deep olive textiles echo planting without turning the interior into a tropical theme.

Walnut · Shell limestone · Olive linen · Aged bronze

Coordination

What BN2 brings together.

The study coordinates interior layouts, courtyard sightlines, custom cabinetry, lighting, furniture, art and indoor-outdoor material transitions around a consistent sequence of shade and reveal.

Interior planning · Custom cabinetry · Furniture & art · Lighting · Turnkey styling

The result

Every primary room receives a framed landscape moment, and the route through the home alternates between compression and release. The experience is quieter, cooler in character and more private.

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