Like nearby Seaside and Rosemary Beach, Alys Beach is another model resort town where an explicitly urban experience lives in harmony with nature. The site offered DPZ the rare opportunity to celebrate the Gulf front to wetland transect that is so emblematic of the Florida Panhandle.

Despite a clear mandate to replicate Seaside’s success, very little of Rosemary Beach emulates its predecessor. Seaside’s lucky immunity to regulations was no longer the reality, and lessons-learned needed to be applied.

Over the last 30 years, the planning and architecture firm Duany Plater Zyberk and Company has crafted plans for over 300 new towns, regions, and revitalization projects throughout the world, including Alys Beach. DPZ's work brings together in one room the many disciplines needed for successful town planning, including architecture, engineering ...

Alys Beach competed the trio of new urbanist communities along Highway 30A designed by DPZ. It benefitted from the experience the company already had from designing the first two communities, and it was named one the “50 Most Beautiful Small Towns in America” by Architectural Digest in 2018.

Rosemary Beach’s traditional town Master Plan is the design of Andres Duany and Elizabeth Plater-Zyberk and their firm DPZ. DPZ created the initial Rosemary Beach Town Plan in 1995. The two had also created the Town Plan for Seaside, Florida in 1980, and later designed the town plan for Alys Beach.

While the natural beauty of Alys Beach is unparalleled, the exquisite architecture and community design is unmistakably unique. Designed by planning and architecture firm DPZ CoDesign (Duany Plater-Zyberk & Company), the elements that comprise Alys Beach are carefully choreographed to create a New Urbanist community built for relationships.

In 2004, the Miami-based planning and architecture firm DPZ CoDesign (“DPZ”) was brought in to create the vision of Alys Beach. DPZ has crafted plans for more than 300 new towns, regions, and...

Building designs advance the traditions of Florida. Porches to catch breezes and provide social space between street and house. Visions of Seaside: Foundation/Evolution/Imagination. Built and Unbuilt Architecture.

Alys Beach uses a combination of vernacular architecture, hardened materials, and wind-resistant design with a natural drainage system that replicates predevelopment hydrology to reduce hurricane and flood risk.

In 2004, the Miami-based planning and architecture firm DPZ CoDesign (“DPZ”) was brought in to create the vision of Alys Beach. DPZ has crafted plans for more than 300 new towns, regions, and revitalization projects across the globe, including two other 30A communities, Seaside (designed in 1980) and Rosemary Beach (designed in 1995).