With a storm surge approaching 15 feet and extreme winds, Hurricane Ian exposed both the volatility of contemporary weather and the fragility of conventional coastal construction.

Designed with this in mind, the La Gorce Family Intern Village’s architectural and structural systems are driven by resilience. The hip roof alleviates wind pressure, and the compact rectangular plan minimizes long, exposed elevations. Eaves are kept slight to reduce uplift while still protecting openings. Buildings are elevated an additional five feet above FEMA’s base flood elevation on concrete piers and precast planks, allowing floodwater to move freely beneath. Long rectangular piers act as shear elements, reducing the need for continuous breakable walls at grade while avoiding costly perimeter moment connections.

Related Story: Construction Begins on La Gorce Family Intern Village

“This project began with a simple question: how can architecture on a barrier island accept the realities of wind, water, and change rather than resist them? The Village translates those pressures into form — nearly square buildings, figured overhangs, and elevated structures that work with the climate instead of against it,” says Elle Gerdeman, Principal, CO-G Architecture.

“At the same time, we’ve thought about the project as a model for the community: how to retain the familiar character of Sanibel — its porches, screens, and informal rhythms —while updating it to withstand increasingly severe storms.”

In its totality, the La Gorce Family Intern Village establishes a benchmark for barrier-island architecture — adaptive, modest, and attuned to its climatic and ecological context. It operates as both a shelter and a field instrument, translating the pressures of wind, surge, and shifting climate into a series of compact, elevated forms. Its deep roofs, screened voids, and simple geometries hold both the familiar character of Sanibel and the intensifying conditions that will continue to shape it.

“Much of the recent rebuilding, shaped by new regulations and insurance pressures, is trending toward a more generic coastal architecture. This project suggests another path —one where resilience is achieved through the same elements that define Sanibel’s identity,” adds Gerdeman.

Architecturally, the project draws from the pragmatic vocabulary of coastal Florida: elevated houses, deep roofs, screened rooms, and simple carpentry. Large square windows align beneath a continuous datum of thick trim tucked under the roof eave. A constellation of smaller operable apertures punctuates the elevations, recalling the rhythmic ventilation windows of Old Florida cupolas.