The very first project Jon Cardello’s architecture firm designed in South Florida was a tiny toll booth at a University of Miami parking garage.
“We needed something to get us going,” said Cardello, who’d moved from Boston in 2005 to open up a Miami office for architecture and design firm ADD. “It took three weeks and I don’t think we made any money from it. But it was a start. ”
Cardello and his wife Rachel, also an architect, were the office’s only employees at the time.
Today, the couple run a team of 117 people designing some of Miami’s tallest new towers, as well as projects in Orlando, Dallas and the Bahamas. ADD merged its business with Canadian-based mega-firm Stantec last year, giving the Miami office global reach.
One of the company’s local projects is Solitair, a 50-story tower with 438 rental units going up in Brickell.
The design of the building recalls the faceted trunk of a medjool palm tree, said Greg West, president of ZOM Development, which is developing Solitair. […]
