Design offices including Esrawe Studio and Rojkind Arquitectos have unveiled a proposal for a resort in New Jersey featuring sand-coloured concrete sunshades.
The design, which dates back to 2018, is for a site located on the Atlantic Ocean in Asbury Park, a seaside town on the Jersey Shore coastal strip of New Jersey, USA.
The developer decided not to go ahead with the design and is now working with a different architect to develop the site, but Esrawe Studio and Rojkind Arquitectos have released renders of their unrealised vision for the project.
Rojkind Arquitectos and Esrawe Studio collaborated with fellow Mexican studio Cadena Concept Design on the design, alongside American firms Slade Architecture and Anda Andrei Design, which is headed by Ian Schrager's former designer Anda Andrei.
Their proposal is for a site that spans two lots – a public lot on the north side and a private one on the south.
Due to the site being on a floodplain with a zoning height limit, the proposed building is low-rise.
Held up by umbrella-shaped concrete columns, the roof doubles as an elevated pool deck reached via various staircases.
Changing rooms, exclusive cabanas and an outdoor sand gym are housed on the lower level of the parts of the building proposed for the private lot.
"This enclosed lower level is clad in reclaimed wood to match the original boardwalk," said Esrawe Studio, which was named interior design studio of the year at Dezeen Awards 2020.
The concrete columns extend to the public north side of the club, where a cluster of them form a shade canopy.
Seating and other public amenities including showers and restrooms are located under the canopy.
Sculpted from sandy-coloured concrete, the development's curved shapes are intended to echo formations such as sea caves.
"When water, wind, sand and rocks interact, they alter the morphology of the earth to create niches, cavities and semi-open spaces interconnecting land and sea," said Esrawe Studio.
The proposed building's west side features a privacy screen composed of precast concrete cylinders mounted on a thin steel frame designed to look like beach grass.
This screen extends 8 feet (3 metres) above the pool deck on the side facing the street to ensure maximum privacy for guests.
The screen's precast cylinders and steel frame taper along the north and east sides of the building until the screen is only a thin metal railing on the beach, providing open views to the sea.
Esrawe Studio was founded by industrial designer Hector Esrawe and is based in Mexico City.
Cadena Concept Design is a Mexican design studio based in Santa Catarina. Anda Andrei Design was founded by Anda Andrei, while Slade Architecture is a New York-based architectural firm, founded by Hayes and James Slade.
Other projects informed by their surroundings include a stone-clad house in a woodland close to Antwerp which is reflected in the large pond that it overlooks, and a lakeside house in Sweden clad with pine slats to match its forest setting.
Update 11/03/2021: this story has been amended to make it clear that it is a proposal, which dates back to 2018, and will not be built.
Project credits:
Architecture, interior design and furniture: Esrawe Studio, Rojkind Arquitectos, Slade Architecture, Anda Andrei Design
Branding: Cadena Concept Design
Scale models: Elà Ambris, Alejandro Uribe, David Flores
Renders: Yair Ugarte