Morris Adjmi Architects

The Goodtime

137,000 square feet
7 stories, 266 keys
Miami Beach, Florida
2021

Rendering of the glass-roofed breezeway at The Goodtime in Miami Beach, lined with potted trees, climbing plants, and black-framed glass storefronts under geometric pendant lights

The Goodtime is a unique adaptive reuse project in Miami’s South Beach Art Deco Historic District. After decades of neglect, an entire block of single-story storefronts—many of which were landmarked—have been thoughtfully repurposed as part of a modern mixed-use hospitality development. The overall design shares the exuberance of the historic district’s famous Art Deco buildings; however, it is also abstract and obviously contemporary.

Rendering of restored Art Deco storefronts at The Goodtime in Miami Beach, with pilasters along a corner of the block, flowering trees, and planted terraces above

For the design of The Goodtime, MA looked to the simple, angular forms found throughout the South Beach Art Deco Historic District. While references were collected from throughout the neighborhood, there was no greater source of inspiration than the existing structures on the site. At first glance, the block of mostly one-story storefronts may have seemed unassuming and underwhelming, but the row played a prominent part in the 1980s renaissance of South Beach and was pivotal to the district’s historic designation.

The key objective was balancing the relationship between the historic buildings and the new construction. In The Making of Miami Beach (1933-1942), Allan T. Shulman and Jean Francois Lejeune write that “Miami Beach is a layering of consecutive urban visions, built one on top of the other and compacted in time and space.” The massing of the new construction was designed to sit back from the historic façades while reframing their context and standing independently. The resultant shape of the building will catch light differently throughout the days and seasons—inherently dynamic without being excessively ornamental.

Aerial view along the street at The Goodtime in Miami Beach, with planted terraces above the storefronts, the pool deck, and the hotel tower beyond

As a specific nod to the district’s simple, angular forms, the hotel’s tower and entry are clad in fluted GFRC panels, connected by a sawtooth stucco façade. But the design is not simply referential. The flutes that compose the façade are not a reproduction of the context, they are a reinterpretation—a different scale and rhythm than the pilasters on the historic façades on the ground plane.

Aerial view of The Goodtime in Miami Beach, with a checkerboard terrace, pink canopies, and the pool deck between the hotel tower and a planted wall, the ocean in the distance
Aerial view of the pool deck at The Goodtime in Miami Beach, lined with umbrellas and pink-roofed cabanas in front of the hotel tower, with the South Beach skyline beyond
Pool deck at The Goodtime in Miami Beach, with sculptural leaf-shaped shade structures over a striped walkway between two pools, and the hotel’s fluted tower behind

Construction

Aerial view of The Goodtime in Miami Beach’s South Beach Art Deco Historic District, with planted terraces atop the street-level storefronts and the hotel set back above them

Awards

  • Winner, 10 Best Hotels, Dezeen - 2021

Image Credits

  • Gabriel Saunders
  • 4+Arquitectos
  • Alice Gao

Related Work

Wythe Hotel
The Rockaway Hotel
The Tampa EDITION