Carlo Ratti’s MiMar tower angles every apartment toward the Atlantic in West Palm Beach

# What the project is and where it sits MiMar is a proposed 25-story residential tower in downtown West Palm Beach by CRA–Carlo Ratti Associati (CRA). The building rises directly behind and above the preserved Datura Fire Station frontage, keeping the historic structure visible at street level while changing the block's scale.

# Design strategy: zig-zag geometry for equal views The tower's defining move is a zig-zag façade that repeatedly folds the residential modules eastward so every apartment receives a view toward the Atlantic. Each fold rotates another apartment toward the ocean and alternates solid and open sections to increase separation between adjacent balconies. From a distance the mass reads as a stacked sequence of shallow turns, each oriented to the horizon.

# Environmental and comfort moves tied to form

# Housing mix and circulation MiMar combines affordable and market-rate apartments in one building. Affordable units make up 40 percent of the residences. The project keeps both housing types within the same circulation system: residents use the same entrance and elevators and share amenities gathered on a landscaped podium terrace. That approach integrates access rather than segregating it.

# Site and street-level program

# Structure, construction, and carbon CRA proposes a hybrid mass-timber and concrete structural system suited to Florida's evolving framework for tall timber construction. Portions of the building can be fabricated off site under controlled conditions and assembled on site, which reduces construction time and neighborhood disruption. The hybrid approach also lowers embodied carbon compared with a conventional all-concrete tower.

# Project team and credits

# What this means for residents and the block The architectural move redistributes a premium that normally accrues to a subset of coastal units: by turning modules east across floors, every apartment gains direct orientation to the ocean. Keeping affordable and market-rate units within the same circulation and amenity plan means that ocean-facing orientation is not isolated as a market upgrade but integrated across the building.

# Concrete design takeaways

• Zig-zag façade folds each module toward the Atlantic so every unit has a view.
• Alternating solid and open façade segments increase privacy and separation between balconies.
• Balconies deepen toward upper floors to provide additional shade and environmental control.

• Hybrid mass-timber/concrete system enables off-site fabrication and reduces embodied carbon relative to an all-concrete structure.