Lincoln Road Clock Tower To Be Renovated, With Design By Norman Foster

The iconic clock tower on Lincoln Road in South Beach is set for a gut renovation, with one of the world’s top architects overseeing design.

Lord Norman Foster’s Foster + Partners is overseeing design, together with Kobi Karp.

The renovations at the 14-story 407 Lincoln Road office tower are planned as carbon neutral, with a net zero goal for the building by using high performance materials.

The office floors are planned to be renovated into Class A space with an open floorplan, while terraces with gardens will be added.

The digital clock atop the tower will also be refurbished.

A hearing before the Historic Preservation Board is planned for December 13. The tower is considered a non-contributing structure.

Michael Shvo is the developer.

 

 

The building as it appears today:

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Anon
6 months ago

Major improvement, love all these changes coming to Lincoln Road. I like the pink analog number styling as well

Miami Beach
6 months ago

Crazy that you can’t build new towers.

Think of all the displacement of the current tenants that wont be able to afford the higher rents – and Miami Beach has no plan for a lot of new development. Just a slow creep of rich people displacing the poor.

Anonymous
6 months ago

Poor people aren’t being displaced. When a “rich” person buys a property, there is money exchanged. The “poor” person gets paid, and usually profits.

Anonymous
6 months ago

Beautiful design! One small suggestion-it would be cool if the clock was neon (very Miami Beach) and a modern thin font. The font/color reminds me of the standard font/color of an alarm clock and could be dated looking?

Anonymous
6 months ago

Also, the colors could change to celebrate different occasions like many LED lighting on buildings now.

Anonymous
6 months ago

When I zoom it looks better because I can see the dots. In the blurry image it looks more like an alarm clock.

CatDog
6 months ago

How is this beautiful? We’re going from a beautiful black granite design to a ugly cookie cutter stucco exterior. This is a major downgrade.

Downtowner
6 months ago

Agreed!

Anonymous
6 months ago

Black marble is dated – hopefully condo owners will renovate all the old bathrooms and kitchens with black granite that are being bought up too.

Anonymous
6 months ago

Exactly correct. This is a historically significant mid-century modern building with great character and details. Obviously it could use a “refresh” but this bland redo doesn’t respect any of the original character while also failing to create a new memorable design. It’s kind of shocking that Foster and Partners would put their name on such an anodyne dull project.

Slim Shady
6 months ago

Granite?
Please stand somewhere near the building….look at it…then edit that post.

Anonymous
6 months ago

Black stone, whatever. 9/10 should be replaced, kitchens and bathrooms tol

Anon
6 months ago

I think it’s intentionally analogue to reflect the 80’s / 90’s aesthetic of miami. And it’s neon pink, so I think it’s perfect.

Anonymous
6 months ago

Well Miami Beach is a different aesthetic than greater Miami. And if we are going to give a nod to the historical theme, Miami Beach’s aesthetic is “Art Deco” which originated in the 1920s/30s. True to that form, I suggest using a very thin font reminiscent of the Great Gatsby Era with neon modern lights to give it a twist.

Anon
6 months ago

There’s really *many* aesthetics that relate to miami beach, not just art deco, thought that is symbolic of south beach. Mediterranean and 80’s Memphis (as I mentioned above) are both appropriate as well, and you can see influences of all three on Lincoln Road.

Anonymous
6 months ago

As with most of greater Miami. You can’t associate one architectural style with one area. Even Coral Gables has its share of good modernism.

Anonymous
6 months ago

The 80s/90s aesthetic of “Miami” applies to the whole area from a Miami Vice pop culture standpoint. With your logic, I would argue Miami proper should embrace its 1910s and 1920s boomtime architectural legacy of Mission and Mediterranean Revival styles. Also, Gatsby Art Deco is not Miami Beach Art Deco, which was the late-1930s rendition known as Streamline Moderne. Miami Beach is also known for MiMo, the building in question a great example of and now propose to disappear.

Anonymous
6 months ago

Thank you! You know your design, and appreciate you sharing these terms. I like streamline modern (or “Miami Art Deco”). To me this fits with that.

Anonymous
6 months ago

Actually the font is growing on me – goes with the lines and shapes of structure. Looks pixilated so they can probably modify the font for different occasions anyway.

Anonymous
6 months ago

Who needs analog? Make it a round clock that changes like the Apple Watch and has hands with a Mediterranean style dome.

Anonymous
6 months ago

Long overdue…

Anonymous
6 months ago

You can’t be serious…

Him
6 months ago

Looks great, let’s get this done.

Analyst
6 months ago

Great! Now get rid of the lowlifes hanging out in front of 711 and McD‘s.

Anonymous
6 months ago

Haha.. 7-11’s and McD’s are high class places.

Analyst
6 months ago

Has nothing to do with it. As a frequent passersby it is a cluster of homeless people and other weird characters…very unpleasant.

Anonymous but Famous
6 months ago

Finally a 55-yr old abomination bites the dirt. Great design by Norman Foster and local talent Kobi Karp.,,,, and the best news to involve Lincoln Road in decades. There are however at least 3 flies in the ointment for the Road.

There is no clear pedestrian connection for the present and future hungry visitors in the parking structure, hotel, and theater; with the eastern third of the Road. The number of bank branches being allowed is of concern.

Easy to fix is the third annoyance. The general approach to the Road is along 17th St. Yet none of the buildings there from the parking structure on down display their addresses, making it a guessing game where to turn south for any address on the road (don’t let the wise guys tell you about the directions display on the phone, obscure to many people). Simply at the cross street signs add 700 block, 800 block, etc.

Anonymous
6 months ago

It was built in 1959??? Wow I didn’t know it was that old.

Anonymous
6 months ago

Lincoln Road needs a MAJOR facelift. The look and cliental has gone downhill and doesn’t attract respect or class it deserves. Lift it up with designs like this.

Anonymous
6 months ago

Lincoln Road is a short strip of nothing really. All of Miami Beach is just overrated.

Dagoberto
6 months ago

I have an office in this building, and while the renovation (and presumably much higher rents) will likely displace me, now the short term renewals sort of make sense at least. Very much looking forward to this building being revitalized and it living on for many more years into the future. New design looks beautiful…just hope progress is a bit quicker than over at the Raleigh.

You
6 months ago

While they’re at it, why not make 846 Lincoln Road into another sleek beauty like this? That Mediterranean is sooo Coral Gables. /sarcasm

Anon2
6 months ago

great plan. Miami beach boards need to approve expeditiously

Adam Sandler
6 months ago

There is nothing wrong with the current Bank of America building design. What a waste of time, energy and money.

Melo is sigma and chad
6 months ago

Hope they maintain working clocks on top during the renovation.

anonymous
6 months ago

It hasn’t worked in years.

Anonymous
6 months ago

It’s always 5 o’clock somewhere haha

Anonymous
6 months ago

Maybe in your world.

Awesome
6 months ago

Awesome!

B Dub
6 months ago

More in keeping with the Miami Beach esthetic than the dark facade it currently has,.

Mark Maccagno
6 months ago

Once again another historical building to disappear, how would the City of Miami Beach Historical Deoartment say this building does not have any historical value, its a tru original Mid Century Modern building, always was a landmark structure and now a famous architect will design just a regular typical structure that does not even have context with the surroundings. Last week the Duneville Hotel was demolished, it could have been saved but seems greedy developers have the influence to make the historical department at the city of miami beach do what they want disregarding all this beautiful historical buildings that Mark the history of Miami

Gregory Sandoval
6 months ago

FINALLY! love the Norman Foster reno of the clock tower! Beautiful!

Melo, the true giga chad
6 months ago

This makeover is going to take forever…I wish we could just implode it and start from scratch

CB12
6 months ago

I guess we aren’t preserving anything huh?

Anonymous
6 months ago

Vizcaya, the Biltmore, and wherever the Birdcage was filmed. Those are my must preserve spots. Everything else, fair game.

Anonymous
6 months ago

Also the clock tower building downtown and the courthouse that’s under construction.

Anonymous
6 months ago

I’m a little torn… maybe they keep the building and replace the black granite with a white stone and it would make it more suitable with Miami Beach

Anonymous
6 months ago

Alternating window panes actually done right and aged well considering how old this building is, and now proposed to be stripped down to a skeletal abomination? SAD!

Downtowner
6 months ago

The new building looks beautiful, but I wish they would have left this building alone. It is/was a great example of mid-century office tower design. I’m sure the exterior could’ve been preserved and maybe even upgraded a bit, but this is a complete divorce from the original. Boo.

Anonymous
6 months ago

I agree I love the current design. If ain’t broke don’t fix it, right? smh

Anonymous
6 months ago

If it* ain’t broke don’t fix it… 😉

Anonymous
6 months ago

Agreed. The proposal looks like any other mediocre and value-engineered mid-rise condo tower along Collins.

MBeach
6 months ago

….however it is “Iconic”

Anonymous
6 months ago

The old building looks like a generic block you’d see on the side of the highway – who is advocating for it to stay?

Anonymous
6 months ago

First the Deauville, even after the measure failed, next Al Capone’s residence, and now one of my favorite non-beachfront high-rises in South Beach? I used to think this city had relatively decent historic preservation laws compared to the mainland, that allowed hotel row along Biscayne Boulevard and entire neighborhoods like Miramar and Edgewater to be demolished, but nope…

SkidroweDC
6 months ago

Thumbs-up from me on the new aesthetic. Not that I’d be sad to see the current/original facades preserved/restored: it has integrity and even sentimentality as an example of American corporate mid-century modern plopped in Miami Beach with minimal local adaptation. (Ie not an example of MiMo.) But the proposed is better, all around.

What could use more reporting — and more comments, frankly – is the net zero claim. Net zero cannot be achieved solely through “high-performance” materials: on-site energy generation is necessary, which in an urban setting means photovoltaic solar panels and/or wind turbines, neither of which appear in the renderings. What gives? It seems like an unfounded sounds-nice PR claim that they cynically assume no one will question. Try harder, please, TNM writers — ask the question!

guy1
6 months ago

Gonna miss the black color of the existing tower. Was such a nice contrast to the blue sky

anonymous
6 months ago

This is a beauty. Save the tower!

Anonymous
6 months ago

How is this an improvement over the current design? I like the Clock tower the way it is now.

Anonymous World
6 months ago

Wow this is terrible. There is nothing wrong with the existing building design. You are replacing a beautiful black marble exterior with crap modernist white stucco finish that is all too common on most new projects in Miami.

Disgusting.

RenRich
6 months ago

Such a waste. I love the current look. I love MIMO. I hate all these ugly balconied over and over boxes. No glass no class. I’m so disappointed in a Foster design. Well at least it will be another cookie cut stucco tragedy. Such a graceful building tossed into a forgetful box with ugly balconies jutting out like an unfinished construction project. Fit right in with the rest of the little glass, no class boxes ruined by ugly balconies jutting out high rise buildings that keep Miami’s skyline depending on the few office towers to keep it interesting. I hope to see more glass enclosed balconies. Miami would pop with less jutting balconies and more glass. Leave the clock tower the same. It’s a beautiful building now. Please don’t make it look like all the residential boring high rises that pollute the few creative icons

Anonymous
6 months ago

Thank you! What most people on here DON’T realize is that MiMo architecture is what put Miami on the map in the 1980s. It has come to my understanding that most developers in Miami do not care about design of buildings but rather how they can throw something together in as little cost as possible. They’re business people… I understand that. But these people have no taste!

Anonymous
6 months ago

The old building doesn’t look MiMo or Miami Modern – it looks low budget filler office space without character. The new building is more modern and MiMo looking. Change is coming and hopefully cleans up Miami Beach.

Anonymous
6 months ago

The original building is beautiful are you nuts. For it’s age, it has aged very well and still is a gem of a building to look at it on the beach. The renovation is generic and it looks like cheap stucco materials are used.

Anonymous
6 months ago

That’s like saying someone with a gross amount of fillers in their lips and cheeks looks good “for their age”.

Stucco is a Florida staple and weathers storms like no other. It’s much better than the flimsy wood and brick crap they use up North. Staggered mirrored glass is cold and looks like a dated office building.

Stucco solid and this has a lot of well-used glass and modern shapes. If anything I’d love to see more stone used but that’s more feasible in low-rises, homes and townhomes, or a ground floor exterior in a high rise.

Anonymous
6 months ago

Do you see any “flimsy” wood and brick? Where do you see any of that? This is a marble building that has stood the test of time. Marble and glass last forever. It’s why you see them in so many cities around the world. Someone on here mentioned that it was built in 1959, and that is a feat for ANY building on Miami Beach. You must be a fan of the stucco crap that cracks and falls apart after 30 years.

Anonymous
6 months ago

Listen Linda, you don’t think there is stucco underneath that dated-black marble, prone to or already cracking? You can see it on the decrepit clock tower and rusted walls. It’s not etched in marble like you’re implying. People tear up marble all the time when it looks dated, like this. The new design will give the entire area the facelift it deserves. The upgrade looks beautiful!

Anonymous
6 months ago

I don’t care what’s “underneath” the surface I care what’s on the exterior of the surface and the building still looks great given it’s age. So the CLOCK needs to be updated you say? Agreed. They need to replace the broken parts and replace it with actual working parts. But to get rid of this beautiful building is a tragedy for Miami Beach and you know it.

Anonymous
6 months ago

People want open balconies to enjoy the breezes, not glass greenhouses to get cooked in. The builders know their buyers better than you do, and they want open balconies.

Anonymous
6 months ago

Only problem is it’s too hot for 10 months out of the year to enjoy those balconies. Maybe balconies are great in California or Nevada but in South FL they are almost useless. How many people do you see actually using their balconies in this town? Not too many. Most of them are huddled inside in the A/C.

Anonymous
6 months ago

Maybe you’ve never lived here? Elevated outdoor space with shade near the ocean is cooled by the Ocean breeze and is lovely all year around. The air is too polluted, dry and smells like forest fire in California and Nevada.

Anonymous
6 months ago

I was born and raised in Miami pal. I have multiple generations in Miami. You are probably a newcomer from the North. I don’t care about the muggy warm weather of Florida anymore. So you have your opinion and I have mine. But do not come here and tell me that your preference is better.

Anonymous
6 months ago

Raised here too. Please don’t assume my origins or that you’re more an expert than anyone else in this discussion. Do you live out west? It’s significantly hotter there without the breeze. I think it’s just as hot here in the summer than up north, where the boiling city concrete and subways steam up from the ground. It’s because of the natural ocean breeze we have here.

Anonymous
6 months ago

Lifelong Miamian pushing age 50 here, been to Nevada and California many times…..triple degree desert heat has most everyone huddled indoors out there in the summer.

Anonymous
6 months ago

Hey I didn’t assume your preference was worst. People who don’t live here complain how it’s hot, but I rarely hear that from people who live here. It sounded like you were saying your preference for California and Nevada was better, that’s all. Hope you’re enjoying it there.

Anonymous
6 months ago

Also it’s quite cool November-May – if you get hot easily jump in a pool or stay inside. You probably do anyway.

Anonymous
6 months ago

No it’s not. It’s hot as hell in May. Especially in the direct sunlight. I am a white guy and I hate the sun.

Anonymous
6 months ago

It’s hot all over in America in the Summer. We don’t get those 110 heatwaves you see across the west and middle of the country. No place is perfect weather, but this is about as close to paradise in the US.

Anonymous
6 months ago

Love my balcony here. It’s the best spot. It’s like an extra living room I wouldn’t have or be able to use up north.

J.M.
6 months ago

lol…too hot to enjoy balconies? Have you tried not being so soft?

Anonymous
6 months ago

That guy would hide indoors no matter where he lived, he is BSing himself

CatDog
6 months ago

So we’re downgrading the design of this building? What a waste of money.

Anonymous
6 months ago

Massive downgrade. The existing state of the building is exemplary of MiMo architecture, and the renovation is nothing but generic.

Anonymous
6 months ago

What? How can you compare this modern luxurious new design with the generic commercial black box that is there now? It seems there are other factors at play with the dissenting comments.