Sweetbird North, an eight-storey office and retail building designed by Snøhetta in Miami’s Design District, has broken ground ahead of site and foundation works.
Snøhetta, the international architecture and design practice, designed the project for developers Dacra and Raycliff Capital. The groundbreaking took place on 30 September at 95 NE 40th Street, beside Museum Garage.
The approximately 120,000ft2 building will include approximately 22,500ft2 of retail across the ground and second floors. Snøhetta is also responsible for the landscape design and lobby interiors, while CUBE 3 is architect of record.
Snøhetta publicly unveiled the design in July 2026.
Stainless-steel mesh wraps the building
A veil of coiled stainless-steel mesh will wrap Sweetbird North, draped and tensioned over a structural frame.
The screen will provide solar shading, act as a guardrail and serve as a hurricane-resistant exterior screen.
Behind it, exposed concrete bays and cantilevered scalloped terraces vary in length and geometry from floor to floor. Viewed head-on, the mesh is designed to appear nearly transparent, becoming more opaque from oblique angles as light conditions change.
The façade system combines the mesh with impact glazing and reinforced concrete to address Miami’s hurricane requirements. Snøhetta says the screen will reduce solar gain and mechanical cooling loads while allowing highly transparent glazing across the building.
Planted terraces rise through the office floors
Each office floor will open onto a planted terrace, with dense tropical planting at the lower levels giving way to flowering bougainvillea above.
A landscaped roof will crown the building. According to Snøhetta, the planting will support pollinators, retain stormwater and contribute to air quality.
At street level, metal-clad columns and extended canopies will frame the retail bays. The ground and second floors will use extensive glazing and frontage for the approximately 22,500ft2 of retail space.
Foundation work to begin
Site and foundation work is due to begin in the coming weeks.
A full-scale mock-up of the stainless-steel façade veil is planned to be constructed this autumn to test its performance before fabrication. The veil installation is scheduled for the final phase of construction.
Alongside Snøhetta and CUBE 3, the project team includes Savino Miller as landscape architect of record, McNamara Salvia as structural engineer, MGE for mechanical, electrical, plumbing and fire protection services, FRONT for façade engineering and Langan as civil engineer.
Images: Courtesy of Plomp
