MONTEGO BAY, St James — Though architect Isiaa Madden was working on mega projects at just 28 years old, she never imagined that one day she would design a high-rise that would transform Jamaica’s architectural landscape.

Then her neighbour Yangsen Li told her he wanted her to design The Pinnacle. The first of four towers, The Swallowtail, is almost complete but Madden still has a hard time believing she was given such a fabulous opportunity.

“Yangsen has allowed me to basically design my dream. I’ve always wanted to do a high-rise and the stars just aligned,” she told those gathered for Jamaica Observer’s #DesignWeekJa2025
at The Pinnacle in Reading, on the outskirts of Montego Bay, last Saturday.

The event was staged in The Pinnacle’s commercial centre, in an elegantly appointed niche carved out of what is essentially an active construction site.

In a one-on-one sitdown with Kenia Mattis — two introverts whose talent thrust them into the spotlight — Madden took the audience on a journey that showed the depth of her talent, love of nature, and passion for The Pinnacle.

“I was 28 years old when I was on a site, the only woman among 500 men at the first RIU in 1999, and then it just snowballed into all the RIUs, then Excellence, then Hyatt and even Princess, Moon Palace. I’ve been blessed to have worked on all those sites, those big projects, and I remember thinking — because I have a home in Toronto — when am I going to be able to design one? But, cho, that not happening in Jamaica, let me just go back home,” Madden said as she slowly opened up to the interview.

She took the audience along on her journey, speaking frankly, sometimes pensively, always with confidence in her craft. She remains amazed and grateful that she met Li, CEO of LCH Developments Ltd, at just the right time in both their lives.

Madden paid tribute to Li for the impact he is having on Jamaica’s luxury residence market.

“I am sure that Yangsen wanted to do this because of his love for Jamaica and [wish] to change the trajectory of the country, to do something different, create a Jamaican modern high-rise building so we could compete with the rest of the world,” she said.

For that to happen, they had to work together and the pieces just seemed to fall into place.

“How is it that the stars aligned, a person from China who is used to all these high-rise buildings all over the place — it’s like nothing for him — comes here, lives here for 20 years, immerses himself into the Jamaican culture. We live in the same development, I’ve lived here almost all my life and then it just crosses where I am able to design what I always wanted to do. It’s amazing, God is amazing,” said Madden, who heads the architectural and design firm Design HQ.

“I feel blessed because I did not tender for this job. I worked for my clients for seven years and I have done many projects for them and so they just specifically just chose me. I’m very grateful and I don’t take that for granted. They just looked at me and say, ‘You know what, you going to do this one for us,’” she revealed.

And if that had not been enough, she was given free rein to bring their concept for The Pinnacle to life.

“I’ve been blessed to have these clients that allow me to do what I want to do. The lobby is 22 feet in height, double height. As you walk in, I don’t know if anyone has had the opportunity to look at the renders, there is going to be a huge curved wall cladding going up the wall, up the ceiling. I have been blessed with Yangsen to be creative on the interiors,” Madden told the gathering.

“We’re going to have terrazzo floors which are now back in style. On the inside, I am going to lean into being more artistic with the furniture maintaining the warmth and sophistication of Caribbean life,” she added, her eyes wide and bright with the thought, her hands fluttering as she tried to use them to create shapes to get her vision across to the audience.

She is particularly proud of the work she has done as an interior designer for The Pinnacle.

“Very sophisticated, simple, clean lines, but it has a dab of warmth with the use of wood and furniture, using a lot of linen which is a very Jamaican I feel. So that was our approach. We wanted the interiors to look very warm, clean, and sophisticated,” she said.

Madden also told the audience the now familiar tale of how she threw herself into the job from the start, criss-crossing the world as she sought inspiration.

“We did a lot of research; we went to Miami to look at all the construction that was going on in Miami, in Edgewater, Miami Beach. We went to the Aston Martin building, we went to the Missoni building… I also had the opportunity to go to China with my clients. Beautiful place and, of course, high-rises over there are like nothing; I mean, dime a dozen,” she reflected.

Then came the task of using all that newfound knowledge to create something uniquely Jamaican. A big part of that, she said, centred on the peninsula on which The Pinnacle is being built.

“We took into consideration the environment of the site such as the sun’s path. We looked at the trade winds, where the wind blows and took all of that into consideration. I wanted everybody to feel the environment. Even though they are going to be in a high-rise, if you are on the 28th floor you’re going to feel [as if you are] outside; on the 10th floor, you’re going to feel outside,” she explained.

“I love nature, I love to bring nature into my projects, I think nature is a very important aspect in life. I didn’t want the building to feel heavy with a lot of concrete so we kinda designed the structure from the core upwards. A lot of shear walls are in the centre and so I designed for all the rooms to be on the circumference of the building, so we have 360-degree views all around. Every single room has a view,” said Madden.

Huge windows helped bring a lot of natural light into the space.

“We designed, of course, floor to ceiling windows and doors, large balconies for outdoor spaces even though you’re on the 28th floor, 26th floor, 10th floor, 14th floor. That was basically my approach, to bring nature in,” she continued.

Ahead of the sitdown with Madden guests at #DesignWeekJa2025 were given a tour of The Swallowtail, the first of four 28-storey towers. With waivers signed, checks that everyone had the appropriate footwear, hard hats and neon green safety vests on, there was a smooth elevator ride to the 21st floor. The view was stunning, with Li proudly pointing out the quality of workmanship, the beginnings of work on a second tower, the under-construction parking lot, and glistening waters of the lagoon.

On the tour, a number of prospective buyers — or their proxies — perked up considerably when they entered the two-bedroom model unit on the third floor. Phones out, they recorded all the details, such as Li talking to “Wallace”, the AI assistant who you can simply tell to turn up the air con. Units come with major appliances, including a dishwasher and range hood over the stove top.

The master en suite bathroom has a decadent-looking bathtub from which you may be able to catch a glimpse of the stunning view below. Balconies off the bedrooms invite you to relax and unwind.

Madden got it right.

The Pinnacle’s architect and interior designer Isiaa Madden shares her story during #DesignWeekJa2025 in Montego Bay last Saturday. 

CEO of LCH Developments Ltd Yangsen Li (third right) leads a tour of The Pinnacle during #DesignWeekJa2025 in Montego Bay last Saturday. (Photo: Aceion Cunningham)

Architect Issia Madden (left) with her mom Janet Madden. (Photo: Sandena James)