Among the first in a new wave of buildings that are transforming West Palm Beach into a major urban center, One Flagler brings the standards of a Class-A New York office to the city’s growing downtown.
Related Ross and Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM) are celebrating the opening of One Flagler, a Class-A office with retail and a revived public green that anchors the rapid redevelopment of the waterfront in West Palm Beach, Florida. The building, which has already reached full tenancy, sits prominently on a peninsula along South Flagler Drive, where the historic First Church of Christ, Scientist has served as a beacon for drivers and pedestrians arriving from the Royal Park Bridge. Built on land that sat largely underutilized for decades as a parking lot with a small reading room and lawn, One Flagler complements the church with a contemporary architectural landmark, while generating crucial funding for the preservation of the historic building.
“We’ve crafted a new landmark on the West Palm Beach skyline,” said SOM Partner Chris Cooper. “At its base, One Flagler carefully complements the historic Beaux-Arts church, and at the top, it creates a bold new beacon on this coastline site. Composed as a white, trellis-like structure rising from the lush public park, the building facade finds its inspiration in the rich tradition of Florida’s tropical modernism.”
The 25-story building’s trellis-like frame is made of burnished, white concrete, and rises in a series of intersecting volumes that are staggered in height, creating terraces at three levels. Planted loggias on the building’s lower levels mask the parking garage and create a green backdrop behind the church. Precisely crafted facade details—gaps between the frame’s horizontal and vertical elements, as well as a dark metal trim around its deep-set windows—cast shadows and create textural definition. The building culminates in a crown of LED lighting at the top, announcing its presence as a new icon in the skyline.
Taking cues from hospitality design, a porte cochere drop-off and a dramatic, two-story lobby clad in warm tones of walnut and limestone convey a welcoming entry. Car commuters can enter from the west, driving up to a valet-serviced parking garage. Above, the offices offer a variety of floor plates—from larger, open workspaces on levels eight through 14, to mid-size floors from levels 15 to 19, and to boutique offices at the top. Three lushly landscaped terraces—including one atop the podium spanning 19,000 square feet alongside a fitness center and conference area—offer sweeping ocean views.
For the neighborhood, SOM reimagined the church lawn as a connective landscape, creating a new setting for flea markets, art shows, and other events fronting Lakeview Avenue and South Flagler Drive. The design for the new park centers on an old banyan tree, surrounded by curved pathways that contrast the rectilinear forms of One Flagler and the church. Benches and planters frame views of the neoclassical colonnade, and on the northeast side of the site, a reflecting pool evokes the landscape of the original First Church of Christ, Scientist in Boston— a detail that connects the West Palm Beach church with the institution’s architectural history. Within the pool, a series of eight parabolic sculptures designed by artist Fred Eversley evokes the church’s eight columns, establishing a “portal” into the site.
“Today’s high-end offices need to be rich in amenities, both for tenants and for the public,” said SOM Partner Ken Lewis. “Together, the newly designed park, the pool, and the artwork establish a welcoming, softer counterpoint to the buildings, and the open space creates a much-needed gathering place for the downtown community.”
Complementing the park, the first floors of One Flagler offer public amenities, with retail to the north, an estiatorio Milos restaurant by celebrated restaurateur Costas Spiliadis to the east, and a new reading room for the church along the south—a larger and brighter space than the aging, one-story structure that had been previously occupied by the church.
Calibrated to Florida’s warm climate, One Flagler’s high-performance facade shades its deeply recessed windows from direct sunlight. Together with insulated glazing units, the design reduces the amount of thermal energy that can penetrate while bringing natural light inside. The 285,000-square-foot, LEED Gold building uses energy-efficient mechanical systems, all housed well above the floodplain at the top floor, and a dedicated outdoor air system brings fresh air into the interiors. Outside, bioswales retain stormwater, and the park, reflecting pool, and plant wall work in tandem to create a public amenity and enhance the biodiversity of the site, attracting more life into this growing part of West Palm Beach.
The project is the latest to be completed in SOM’s long history in South Florida. It is located just a short drive from the West Palm Beach Brightline station—one of the rail line’s three SOM-designed stations, along with Fort Lauderdale and the multi-modal MiamiCentral stations. Around the region, SOM is also designing the redevelopment of the Bal Harbour Shops, as well as Rivage Bal Harbour, a new residential building set within a lush tropical landscape.
