On a gray afternoon in Paris, the Montreal-born interior designer Martin Brlwho keeps offices in Brooklyn and here, just off the Tuileries Garden, in a neighborhood of fine art and antiques galleriesstudied photographs on his phone of a recent project in Surfside, Florida. The sun! Brl says with a little laugh and a small sigh.His clients had come to him with an apartment in one of the two residential towers added in 2017 to the citys historic Surf Club, which opened nearly a century ago. Richard Meier, the architect of the towers, delivered a pitch-perfect update to the clubs Mediterranean Revival style and country-club-on-a-beach sensibility, says Brl, and the long and open layout of the original three-bedroom residence, which the renovation saw converted into a one-bedroom pied--terre with an office and a yoga room, wasnt anything either the owners or Brl had a mind to change.Adrian GautThe dining room of a holiday apartment in Surfside, Florida, in a Richard Meierdesigned building with interiors by Martin Brl Studio. The pendant is by Patrice Dangel for Galerie Alexandre Biaggi, the tapestry by Emilio Terry, and the travertine surfboard by Reena Spaulings. The dining table is custom, the rug is by Diurne, and the plates are by Matthieu Coss.Its a quite casual apartment, says Brl. Its like a very big hotel suite. Thats what the clients wanted. (The Surf Clubs residential towers are serviced by the Four Seasons.) Because this was to be such an easy-breezy place, a utilitarian address at which the owners wished not to entertain but to unbutton, Brl instated just enough color and texture to reach an at-home register. Usually, Im layering and layering, says the designer, who has a penchant for furniture and objects from the 1930s and 40s. But here theres an intentional spareness, a boat vibe, he says. He paneled half of the apartment, including the family room, in oak shiplap, the wood pickled and wire brushed into a state of perfect relaxedness.Adrian GautThe kitchens backsplash and ceiling tiles are custom-painted by Matthieu Cosse. The cabinetry is by Boffi, the custom runner is by Cogolin, and the fittings are by Rubinetterie Stella.He set that room with a television and a custom sofa, club chairs, and an ottoman, all of which he draped in a striped wool Raf Simons for Kvadrat fabric. There is a discreet Cogolin rug and, smartly, not much else: a crystal teal vase and an Art Deco scallop-shaped sconce, which glows like a fistful of light. In Surfside, Brls serenely sophisticated touch also favors ceramic, raffia, and stone: A surfboard leans against a wall in the dining room, but its a sculpture, carved from tonal orange-red travertine as if in observance of the natural cadence of sunrise and sunset.An adjacent Emilio Terry tapestry records the meandering forms of red coral and green seaweed in a frame of white shells. Theres actually no art that can be affected by the sun, he says, stressing just how carefully he dialed down into unfussy design.See More of This Dreamy Pied--TerreThe galley kitchen had no windows and glossy white cabinetry that the clients opted to retain: Brl prescribed custom tiles hand-painted by the Parisian artist Matthieu Coss, whose minimalist brushstrokes effect a horizon scene on the walls and ceiling in which mer meets terre under a cloud-tufted sky. (Coss, who has created frescoes for the Herms flagship on Pariss rue de Svres, and whose work recalls the tattoos wrought by Jean Cocteau on the walls of his villa on the Cte dAzur, also produced a series of dinnerware drawn with marine life for the project.) Lightness of being is what that is, Brl says.Its a quite casual apartment...like a very big hotel suite. Martin BrlThe bedroom may be the lightest of all. Oak wainscoting rises just above a headboard covered in a raw silk-cotton fabric by Jim Thompson in a shade between aquamarine and seafoam. Brl covered the wall above the wainscoting, which is encrusted with a ceramic installation by Cocobolo, in the same dynamic blue-green.Adrian GautA Jim Thompson fabric covers the walls and headboard in the bedroom. The ceramic wall sculpture is by Cocobolo, the table lamps are by Collier Webb, and the bedspread is by Frette.The color reflects in the mirrors of the vanity nook opposite the bed, which Brl converted from a closet, and rhymes with the water that constantly, visibly laps the beach below the living room, a space the designer fitted with vintage rattan club chairs by Henry Olko and a low travertine table like a full moon, an allusion that Brl barely acknowledges, perhaps because its so obvious.This building and this sixth-floor pied--terre are programmed for water and sky, he says, gesturing again at the ocean view out the windows and off the expansive terrace, which he furnished with aluminum tables and chairs by McKinnon and Harris, finished with bespoke cushions. I want the clients to lounge about and enjoy that view. Everything is simply about that view.This story originally appeared in the Winter 2025 issue of ELLE DECOR. SUBSCRIBE