Scenic Terrace Condominiums.
Escambia Bay, Florida
Challenge
Scenic Terrace, was the first upper end, primary home, residential condominium complex constructed in the community in well over a decade, so there was little secondary market research data available upon which to confidently establish optimum unit mix demand. In addition, to market unknown, there were site challenges including the site was long, narrow, and oriented perpendicular to the desired views of Escambia Bay.
Action
In providing units that are attractive to the upper end market, BTA developed and evaluated alternative floor plate and corridor concepts to 1) provide multiple view orientations from every unit, and 2) accommodate a range of unit mixes (flexplate) that were to be ultimately confirmed by actual unit selections and sales.
Results
BTA developed a pinwheel design that creates continuous usable area around a central vertical circulation core, similar to commercial office buildings. This layout allows flexibility of unit size from 1,500 square feet to over 4,000 square feet. Wet columns are carefully planned up through the structure to allow flexibility of plumbing fixture placements that were dependent on finalizing layouts for each floor. This, in turn, eliminates the limiting need for all units to be identical and to be stacked vertically.
One of the most successful selling features of the design concept is its provision of multiple vistas per unit. The pinwheel design consists of four primary projections, allowing each tip to have 270° views. With the pinwheel rotating on axis to the shoreline, all tips have a view of the Bay. In addition to these water views, the building tips also allow views across Pensacola, which are equally, if not more, breathtaking than those of the Bay, especially at sunset and at night.
The project enjoyed an expedient sell-out, and today it retains its occupancy and value as one of the premier residential addresses in the community.
