The Van der Vlugt Residence, designed by Miami-based firm STRANG, is a contemporary coastal house in the Upper Florida Keys that brings together climatic responsiveness, structural resilience, and a refined modern architectural language. Positioned along a vulnerable waterfront landscape, the project addresses the environmental demands of its setting without separating performance from architectural expression. In doing so, it extends the legacy of the Sarasota School of Architecture, particularly its longstanding emphasis on environmental adaptation, material experimentation, and close engagement with the Florida climate.
The residence has received significant professional recognition, including the AIA Florida Award of Excellence for New Work, the AIA Miami Award of Excellence in Residential Architecture, and selection as a World Architecture Festival Finalist. These accolades point to the building’s formal quality and to the clarity with which it responds to the realities of building on a low-lying and climate-exposed coastline.
Building for exposure and uncertainty
The house is elevated ten feet above ground to respond proactively to sea level rise and potential storm surge, making resilience a primary design generator rather than a secondary technical layer. Supported on robust concrete columns, the first level includes a dramatic 50-foot cantilever and partially engages a pre-existing berm, allowing the building to remain grounded in the site while also asserting a degree of separation from it. This elevated condition reduces risk while producing the impression of a floating volume suspended within the landscape. Rather than relying solely on hard defensive measures, the project combines structural foresight with passive environmental moderation. Its orientation, openness, and layered enclosure work together to reduce heat gain and improve comfort in a hot, humid climate.
Passive performance and filtered light
A key aspect of the design lies in its use of floor-to-ceiling glazing paired with strategically placed louvers. This combination allows daylight to penetrate deep into the interior while also moderating solar exposure and glare. The louvers catch light and cast shadow across the house, giving the exterior a constantly shifting visual depth while serving an environmental function through shading and passive cooling. This approach reflects an architectural logic long associated with the Sarasota School, where climatic responsiveness is embedded in form, section, and material rather than treated as an applied system. At the Van der Vlugt Residence, environmental control is therefore achieved through a measured balance of openness, protection, and ventilation-oriented planning.
Material continuity and architectural character
The material palette reinforces this synthesis of durability and refinement. Board-formed concrete defines the rugged exterior envelope and continues into the interior, establishing continuity between outside and inside. In spaces such as the library, this textured surface is set against curved white shelving, while in the owner’s suite, metallic imprints of the concrete formwork become a feature wall. These moments give the house a tactile depth that connects structural honesty with crafted detail.
At the entry, a spiral staircase finished in cool gray microcement marks the point where the building’s curvature meets its axial organisation, echoing the geometry of the site’s waterfront boundary. Here, material experimentation supports both environmental durability and spatial identity.
A modern coastal legacy
The project’s environmental credentials are measurable. Over the course of a year, the house was 100% powered by the sun for 1,264 hours and achieved net-zero operation for 31 days, with those days averaging 50.1 kWh of solar generation. Its significance is underlined by its selection as the pilot episode of Sarasota School: A Living Legacy, a new documentary series by Architecture Sarasota.
