The Waves on the Boardwalk

The project calls for 80,000 sq ft, 40-unit condominium complex situated along the boardwalk in Seaside Heights, a popular summer tourist destination on the Jersey shore. In addition to the residential program and parking garage, the site is to include a restaurant, health club and swimming facility to be shared by both residents and the general public.

The design solution requires a contextual response to its surroundings. The smaller scale and public nature of the boardwalk is maintained by placing the public program along the waterfront as foreground elements to the residential slab beyond. This housing block stylistically engages with the fanciful image-making of New Jersey’s tourist architecture. A series of 10-foot steel waves break across the top of the building providing both a play on the oceanfront location and a screen for the roof top mechanical structures behind.