CREATING ARCHITECTURE ALONG THE SUGAR SAND BEACHES OF FLORIDA

By Michael S. Hinchey, AIA GSB Inc.

How did you get projects in Florida and the Caribbean? Oklahoma City based GSB Inc Architects and Planners hear that question frequently from people we meet. The answer seams quite simple to us to explain but it has taken years of hard work and dedication to quality to reach the beach. Since 1999, GSB Architects have been providing custom architecture and interior design services along the coast of Florida and enjoying every minute of it.

GSB has had the pleasure of providing custom architecture and interior design services for some of Florida’s most progressive developers. Watercolor, Watersound, and Naturewalk are all new residential resort communities that we have provided custom architecture and interior design services for. These residential communities have been created with custom design in the forefront of the planning process.

Watercolor, just west of Seaside on the northwest coast of Florida, is a beach resort of custom single family and multifamily residential offerings. The 499 acre residential and resort community offers a retreat from the rest of the world with amenities such as a gulf front Beach Club, neighborhood community facilities such as Camp Watercolor, lakes and nature trails, tennis, and golf at Camp Creek Golf Club. GSB has designed many of Watercolors community facilities. Working with a creative team of designers, GSB began with the Watercolor Inn. A boutique hotel of approximately 60 custom designed beachfront guest rooms, the Inn was the first of it’s kind along the Florida coast. Serving the Inn and the neighborhoods of Watercolor as the beachfront recreational amenity, the Watercolor Beachclub was the next architectural design for GSB. Several architectural amenities followed with the design of the Watercolor Workout exercise facility. The Watercolor Market Deli was designed to provide neighbors with all the grocery and sundry essentials to live at the beach. Camp Watercolor was designed to serve the community needs of the second phase neighborhood of Watercolor. It includes a swimming pool, locker rooms, a community room, a craft room, kitchen services, and access to a playground with custom play fort and a soccer field. GSB designed the architecture and interiors of Camp Watercolor to create a community facility with the design aesthetics of a summer camp facility. Cyprus tree trunks were hand selected to grace the front and back porches and give a whimsical appeal to the architecture. The final addition to Watercolor for GSB is the Watercolor PRC, a private residence club consisting of 11 custom designed two bedroom residences.

Further east down the beach lays Watersound Beach. Watersound is a residential community of custom single-family residences and amenities all designed to help you forget the stresses of everyday life and remind you of the resort communities of New England’s Cape Cod and Martha’s Vineyard. The shingle style architecture of the custom residential design is modified to address the Florida coast climate. Deep roof overhangs and shaded porches make outdoor living possible. Interiors designed with light colors and lofty ceilings create cooler environments to live and play.

Nature Walk of Seagrove encompasses 155 acres, 68 acres of which will be preserved wetlands. An internal trail system for walking and biking winds through the community bound on three sides by Point Washington State Forest. GSB has completed concept design on the first of several planned multifamily custom residential buildings for this new development.

Architecture and interior design projects in Florida have led GSB to more recent architectural projects in the Caribbean. Please visit our Portfolio to view these and a selection of our other projects.