In Miami’s Wynwood Norte, MVRDV has broken a 163-residence mixed-use building into a stack of differently scaled blocks, which gives WOMA the appearance of several buildings gathered across one site. The development marks Ecuador-based Uribe Schwarzkopf’s first project in the United States and occupies the former home of a coffee roasting company.
Across the exterior, deep red and green sections sit beside blue or sandy volumes, while recessed windows and shifting grids give each piece its own rhythm. The fragmented massing responds to a neighborhood still defined largely by smaller buildings, thus keeping the project legible from the sidewalk even as it rises well above them.
The visual history of Wynwood enters the architecture through a textile-inspired facade that refers to the area’s former identity as Miami’s Fashion District. MVRDV also draws on the street art for which the neighborhood has become famous, and uses color and graphic surface treatment across the stacked blocks.
images © MVRDV
housing opens onto work
Across the residential floors, the unit mix extends from micro-units and studios to larger apartments, with a limited group of duplex atelier residences designed by MVRDV for Uribe Schwarzkopf around live-work use. Double-height windows open these ateliers toward the exterior, giving artists and designers room to work while allowing studio or exhibition space to register from the street. A single penthouse crowns the building with a private terrace, while the remaining homes are distributed through the stacked volumes instead of concentrating in one continuous tower.
Setbacks between the blocks create planted terraces and pockets of outdoor space throughout the building, with larger shared amenities placed higher up. A semi-Olympic pool sits on the rooftop beside landscaped garden lounges, while a wellness terrace and fitness studio occupy another communal zone. The amenities appear between and above the colored volumes, so the shared areas read as part of the stepped massing instead of a single deck placed on top.
WOMA will bring 163 residences to a former coffee roasting site in Wynwood Norte
fornasetti mosaics lead into the public plaza
At the center of the project, a publicly accessible plaza opens between the building volumes and connects back to the street through broad stairs. Bisazza glass mosaics cover the stair surfaces with Fornasetti’s recurring hand motifs ‘MANI’, turning the approach into one of WOMA’s most graphic moments. Retail edges the plaza, with offices opening from the same level, and the renderings show planting tucked beneath the overhanging residential blocks to create shade around the shared space.
The studio of Bolivian-born fashion designer Rosita Hurtado will sit alongside this plaza, which is planned to host exhibitions and fashion shows as part of the mixed-use program. Kobi Karp serves as associate architect, bringing local Miami experience to the project, while a planned Brightline station in Wynwood Norte could eventually add another connection beyond the immediate neighborhood.
MVRDV breaks the building into stacked blocks that respond to the neighborhood’s smaller scale
duplex atelier residences pair homes with studio space behind double height windows
a rooftop pool stretches beside landscaped lounges above Wynwood Norte
textile-inspired facades draw from Wynwood’s history as Miami’s Fashion District
a publicly accessible plaza opens between the residential volumes at street level
deep recesses and shifting colors give each block a distinct street presence
project info:
name: WOMA
architects: MVRDV | @mvrdv
associate architect: Kobi Karp | @kobikarp
location: Wynwood Norte, Miami, Florida
developer: Uribe Schwarzkopf | @uribeschwarzkopf
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