A laid-back, sand-between-the-toes spirit pervades this sophisticated pied-à-terre. “The look is intentionally unusual, but there’s also a sense of fun because we’re in Miami Beach,” Alessandro Isola says. It’s a vision in white, accented by water tones. The apartment is one of 26 that Interior Design Hall of Fame member John Pawson conceived for the Ian Schrager Company’s Residences at the Miami Beach Edition. Some occupy a new structure on top of the hotel’s original 1950’s building.

The unit renovated by Isola’s namesake architecture firm for Italian owners, however, is in a neighboring building. Working within Pawson’s characteristically minimal 1,500-square-foot layout, Isola delivered a two-bedroom that can accommodate a couple and up to four children. Multipurpose features make that possible. The master bedroom can double as a private lounge of sorts, thanks to the bed’s white leather-upholstered platform, which extends far beyond the mattress to invite daytime relaxation. In the children’s room, the same leather covers padded paneling that wraps from the walls to the ceiling and even part of the floor. “It’s a tiny room, so I turned it into a raised cocoon that frames views of the sea,” he says. “The padding also gives the kids a soft play area.” Better yet, the paneling conceals a pair of pull-down bunks to supplement the two beds opposite.