CannonDesign completed the Skolnick Surgical Tower and Hildebrandt Emergency Center at Mount Sinai Medical Center in Miami Beach, Florida.

One look at the sweeping beaches and ocean views and its obvious why so many people choose to call Miami Beach home, and why the city hosts millions of tourists from all over the world every year.

Mount Sinai’s new emergency department and patient tower reflects and showcases Miami Beach’s distinctive landscape and culture. Sometimes it’s just by putting the stunning coastal views on display through a grand, light-filled atrium and floor-to-ceiling windows in patient rooms. Other times it’s reflected subtly in the chosen interior color palette of blues and greens in furniture and artwork throughout the building. A dramatic façade is designed with compound curves instead of traditional straight lines to enhance visual impact and provide a contemporary take on Miami’s deep-rooted art deco heritage.

But the main reason so many people choose to work, play and visit Miami Beach—the proximity to the ocean—is what makes the city so vulnerable to weather-related disasters. As the only hospital in this beach area, we had to design this project differently than most, creating a fortress that could withstand hurricane-force winds, 100-year flood levels and extended power outages. It also houses the city’s emergency command center to manage response and recovery efforts during and after natural disasters.

We applied a signature level of detail and thoughtfulness to the project from conception to opening—from early master planning for the greater campus, to the design of the tower and the operational and transition planning, move management and coordination leading up to the first day the doors opened to patients. This collective effort resulted in a piece of architecture that fits the Miami Beach ocean-front aesthetic while functioning as state-of-the-art medical facility prepared for any weather-related event.

Architect: CannonDesign
Photography: Christopher Barrett