TROP Architecture is a full-service Sarasota architecture and interior design firm led by licensed architect Steffani Drass. We offer turn-key services ranging from site selection all the way through construction administration and furniture procurement. Our projects focus on residential renovations and new construction, as well as boutique commercial spaces, with specialties in coastal construction and urban revitalization. We have built close relationships with local general contractors, consultants, and trades to ensure the best possible team for our clients.

Our work is rooted in a warm tropical modern aesthetic — a sensibility that pairs the clean lines of modern architecture with the textures, light, and indoor-outdoor living that define Florida’s Gulf Coast.

At project inception, exploring the existing site characteristics creates the foundation for exceptional design. The neighborhood, trees, wind paths, and sun patterns drive the development of initial massing diagrams. We work closely with you on a program questionnaire to understand your lifestyle, laying the groundwork for adjacencies, room sizes, and overall square footage. We provide concept design imagery to help you understand the overall aesthetics of the home and create 3D massing models with sun studies. The building envelope and structural systems also begin to develop in these initial stages.

In design development, we begin to produce the overall site plan, floor plans, and roof plan, along with exterior elevations. We start to develop interior and exterior finishes and design cabinetry, furniture, and lighting layouts. It is typically at this time that we engage a general contractor to begin initial pricing of the plans.

We then move into construction documentation. We combine all of the above into final detailed drawings and specifications used for permitting and construction.

Finally, we see your project all of the way through the construction process.  We manage pay draws, on site visits and day to day communications with the general contractor to ensure transparency, accuracy and timeliness.

As Architect Steffani Drass of TROP Architecture steps inside this Sarasota Bay home for the first time, her mission is clear. Built in 2012, the modern-contemporary exterior conceals an interior seemingly frozen in time that evokes the 1970s rather than the home’s actual era. “I intended to celebrate the existing distinctive architecture while embodying the new homeowner’s vision,” Drass states.

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On the southwest Florida island of Bird Key, general contractor Edward Goldfarb and his wife, Elizabeth, found an idyllic spot to build their new house. The breezy lot, situated on Sarasota Bay, would afford enough space for a pool and boat dock without disturbing the water views. Remarkably, it also fulfilled a special desire on their wish list: southwesterly exposure, which would allow the couple to witness Sarasota’s captivating sunsets right from home.

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Nestled in Hidden Harbor on Siesta Key, the Panorama Residence embodies the essence of modern coastal living­seamlessly blending timeless design with the surrounding coastal environment. The entrant reimagined the residence as an immersive sensory experience guided by biophilic design principles. The home forges a fluid connection between the indoor and outdoor spaces. Grand oak trees frame the geometric composition of the home. The unique shapes created opportunities for drama and play.

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The connection to the surrounding natural elements was the driving force for the design of this modern home. Located in a quiet neighborhood, the home focuses on the open sky and sea and creates a calming, tropical oasis. The home is situated on a triangular shaped lot with over 200 linear feet of southwesterly facing bay frontage overlooking Big Pass, Lido Key and Otter Key. Every room in the home parallels the water’s edge and has an adjoining covered terrace to enjoy the yearlong tranquil breezes.

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