By Coral Gables Gazette staff

The Coral Gables Board of Architects convenes its regular weekly meeting Wednesday, April 1, at 8:30 a.m. with a full agenda of 21 applications spanning new single-family construction, residential additions, roof replacements, and one project flagged as historic — a combination that reflects the steady pace of development activity across the city and the board’s role as the architectural gatekeeper that every exterior change in Coral Gables must pass through before a building permit can be issued.

The meeting takes place at the Development Services Building, 427 Biltmore Way, First Floor Conference Room. Members of the public may attend in person or observe via Zoom at https://us06web.zoom.us/j/84313511749. A dedicated phone line is also available at 305-461-6769, meeting ID 843 1351 1749. Public comments must be submitted by 4 p.m. Tuesday, April 1, the day prior to the meeting.

New construction

Five applications involve new single-family residences, making them among the most substantive items on the agenda. A new home at 116 Morningside Drive, a new two-story single-family house at 421 Zamora Avenue, and a new two-story single-family residence at 274 Marinero Court are each before the board for design review. Two additional new single-family residences — at 14730 Sailfish Drive and 14600 Pompano Drive — round out the new construction docket, both in Coral Gables’ southernmost reaches near Snapper Creek.

New construction applications are among the most scrutinized items the board handles. Under Section 5-100 of the Coral Gables Zoning Code, the board evaluates proposed designs against standards that include compatibility of color, materials, fenestration, and proportion, as well as what the code describes as an intrinsic sense of order in all aspects of the design. For new homes in particular, those standards carry the full weight of the city’s century-old architectural identity — the Mediterranean Revival aesthetic that George Merrick established as Coral Gables’ founding design language and that the board is charged with preserving.

Additions and renovations

Several applications involve additions and renovations to existing residences. A proposed addition and interior remodeling at 539 Cadagua Avenue and an addition and remodeling to an existing residence at 7210 Lago Drive are both on the agenda, as is a new one-story addition to the rear of 2716 Granada Boulevard with interior and exterior renovations. A project at 3421 Toledo Street involves an interior renovation and rear addition, and 501 Sevilla Avenue comes before the board for a rear porch roof replacement, a new entry door, a cabana bathroom addition, and kitchen cabinet and island replacement.

A proposed one-story CMU building and tower at 1130 Placetas Avenue, combined with a general façade renovation, rear terrace replacement, house painting, and roof staining, represents one of the more comprehensive exterior transformation projects on the agenda.

The historic item

The application that will likely draw the most careful attention from the board involves a property at 2302 Granada Boulevard, which carries a historic designation in the city’s records. The scope of work includes a new photobooth and trellis addition and the replacement of the roof on an existing outdoor terrace at a single-family residence. Historic designations in Coral Gables trigger heightened scrutiny under the board’s review standards — any addition or alteration must demonstrate compatibility with the historic character of the property and its surroundings. The board must weigh the proposed improvements against the obligation to preserve what the designation was intended to protect.

Roof applications

Six applications involve roof work, a category that generates more board activity in Coral Gables than many residents might expect. Because rooflines and roofing materials are visible elements of a home’s exterior, they fall within the board’s design review jurisdiction. Wednesday’s roof applications include a new flat and tile roof at 5110 Granada Boulevard using Saxony 900 Dark Charcoal tile, a re-roof at 350 Aledo Avenue using Crown Roofing flat tile in the Windsor Model Tobacco Range, a re-roof at 10700 Snapper Creek Road using Saxony 900 Dark Charcoal Blend, and metal re-roofs at 1120 Alfonso Avenue, 151 Edgewater Drive, and 5505 Arbor Lane.

Other items

A new privacy fence with columns and gates at 6900 Granada Boulevard and an after-the-fact pergola with external lighting at 4214 San Amaro Drive complete the agenda. After-the-fact applications — for work already completed without prior board approval — are reviewed against the same design standards as prospective applications, and the board retains authority to require modification or removal of non-compliant work.

The Board of Architects is composed of nine registered architects appointed by the City Manager and confirmed by the City Commission, all of whom must hold Florida licensure and a majority of whom must be members of the American Institute of Architects. Chairperson Peter Kiliddjian presides, with Vice Chairperson Alain Bartroli and board members Giorgio Balli, Judy Carty, Raymundo Feito, Callum Gibb, Luis Jauregui, Glenn Pratt, and Hamed Rodriguez.