Mic Drop

For former talk radio star Tom Joyner, Studio Roda creates an oceanfront pleasure pad with out-of-sight views and disco-era glamour.

- Stephen Wallis

Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah." Those are the words Tom Joyner, the retired longtime syndicated radio show host, repeated over and over during his first walk-through with the designer of his revamped seaside apartment in Sunny Isles Beach, part of the Miami metropolitan area.

When Joyner bought the 5,000-square-foot, three-bedroom residence, located on a midlevel floor of the 60-story Porsche Design Tower, a few years ago, he was attracted by the panoramic views, the large balcony, and the car elevator that enables him to park his Rolls-Royce Cullinan in an attached garage. Not to mention the fact that the building has room service. "You can order an espresso martini in the morning or the evening," he says. "What's not to like?"

But the apartment's decor, conservatively styled in wallto-wall neutrals, was too bland for Joyner's tastes. Architect Wesley Kean, who had worked on Joyner's previous home, recommended Rodrigo Albir, whose Miami firm, Studio Roda, is a regular collaborator. So Joyner invited Albir for a meeting at the apartment, where Joyner greeted him wearing sunglasses and a Versace kimono, with a Swarovski crystal-encrusted cane-his preferred chilling-at-home look. "Tom gave me a tour and said, 'I need color. I want the apartment to be fun, to have a wow factor," recounts Albir. "He used the phrase 'beige came here and died.'"