Deep water lots in
downtown Fort Lauderdale are notoriously small. The availability of the
lot next door opened up a whole new set of expansion possibilities for
one of my long term clients. “If we bought the lot, what do you think we
should do with it, other than building a soccer field and some
additional parking?” they said to me one evening as they were
contemplating the purchase. “Well,” I said, “We almost always sit out
here on this porch, looking at the canal …. Wouldn’t an expanded porch
with an outdoor kitchen be the most obvious place to start?” And so we
began. They purchased the lot and we began designing the addition. The
addition grew a second story office for him and a bridge to connect it
to the master bedroom. These elements not only physically tie the two
buildings together across the back yard, but also provide the covered
outdoor space of the expanded porch below. His office opens to a
two-story foyer and then steps down and out onto the front porch. The
integration of a new piece of architecture to an existing building can
sometimes be a tricky prospect. This project architecturally connects
the Owner’s existing residence to their new outdoor entertainment area.
