PLANNING
Good planning is essential to any endeavor. Get the basics right and the project will be on the best track for success.
Desert Botanical Garden Hazel Hare Center for Plant Science
coLAB studio, along with our partners from 180 Degrees, worked through an Integrative Design Process to get the very best site planning strategy. The final layout is extremely efficient to fit the most building for the site.
The greenhouses will be the heart of the operations, and we chose to create a 24-foot grid as it is the most cost and space efficient layout for greenhouses, and it also accommodates fire lane access.
The Embrace
"Working upstream" via the Integrative Design Process (IDP), complex problems can be worked out, and all relevant information is out on the table by inviting all stakeholders to collaborate in the IDP workshops, before design takes place
- IDP generally saves about 10% of a project's schedule (per Bill Reed)
Some IDP ideas:
• "Nature everywhere" inside & out
• Music venues to revitalize Tempe's historic music culture
• Utilize Tempe's historic & modern architecture style
• Technical innovation of 3D printed earth forms (hollow boulders) on building facades as planters
• Biophlic Design throughout
• Affordable live-work communities of on-site professionals, landscapers, medical, & artists
• Physical exercise amenities on-site
• On-site food production
• circular economy possible with 30,000 inhabitants living in close proximity
Other attributes to the design:
Intel in Chandler regularly sends 10 tonnes of used lumber to landfills every month. The Intel plant receives regular shipments of small-and-large-scale equipment each month that arrives in custom-built crates.
Lots of labor is required to break down the crates into building cladding.
The developer would seek people to produce the labor in exchange for rent or work-to-ownership methods.
The project would utilize as many reclaimed materials as possible, including breaking up concrete slabs into “flagstone” paving.
Low-and-High Rise buildings are lifted off the ground to allow greater views of the open space, and to shade the site for heat mitigation.
Utilizing 3D printed earth forms, we can mimic Arizona’s rocky landscape with artificial hollow boulders as planters and to increase visual interest and greater biophilia.
A ring road around the development allows emergency vehicle access, and provides a tree-lined path for cycling or running.
Parking is below-grade, with the potential to contain services; for instance, it is possible the buildings could utilize composting toilets with processing at the parking level.
Townhouses
The site contains three townhouse “pods,” each houses about 290 people. Townhomes are 2-3 stories, and each unit contains a private atrium that is open to the sky.
Each “pod” is broken down to seven groups of nine homes. Each group of nine homes has its own landscaped court. Access to the homes are through the court.
Each “pod” also has a full-community landscaped courtyard that accommodates more than 300 people. Directly off the courtyard, another gathering patio provides visual access to the central bioswale.
Low-Rise & Hi-Rise
Each three-story “courtyard in the sky” (CitS) contains enough apartments for around 200 people.
At the center of each ‘CitS,’ are various landscapes and water features, along with seating in gathering spaces.
At the edge of the CitS there is a large balcony on two levels that look out over the city and/or the development’s landscapes.
Low-Rise & Hi-Rise Courtyards
These buildings are lifted off the ground to allow greater views of the open space, and to shade the site for heat mitigation.
Lobby and courtyards allow through-ventilation of natural breezes, and may be augmented by mechanical evaporative coolers.
Courtyards have a reflective ceiling to capture more light and to allow the space to feel larger.
Low-Rise & Hi-Rise Balconies
Extensive views over the site and surrounding city are provided by the edges of the ‘Courtyard in the Sky’ spaces.
Planting on the edges of the balcony assist with making the courtyard feel secure, and also with increasing a relationship with natural elements.
Mercado Commercial Centers
Each of the five Mercado commercial buildings have a huge courtyard at its center. Relatively small openings in the large surrounding building provide access.
Celebrations, music, food vendors, shops all occur within. We recognized the power of courtyard architecture to bring communities together.
Mercados are located in the southern site, closer to existing commercial uses. Four Mercado are directly adjacent to major streets for visibility and easy access.
Raised Bike/Run/Walk Track
The raised track allows unfettered access to much of the site’s southern portion. At its center is the large central bioswale, which collects waste and storm water to filter the water for landscape and other uses.
The red track cuts through some high-rises, and flies over four of the five Mercados.
Each lap of the track is exactly 1 mile.
Note the isolated high-rise & Mercado in the southeast corner of the development. The tall building could be a hotel, and be the first building built along with the Mercado in order to begin generating income as quickly as possible.
Morning View From The Canal
Phoenix gets its name from a bird that rises from its fiery ashes. The name was chosen for the city because some of the founders noticed there were hundreds of miles of canals all over the “valley of the sun,” and renovated some of them to grow produce.
The canals used to be lined with large trees allowing the sides to be used as linear parks, but they were removed decades ago. People still use the canals for walking and bike paths.
Today, the canal conveys water around the city to cities and neighborhoods with appropriate water rights.
Central Bioswale
All new developments should include water collection and filtration to add more resiliency to our region.
The large central bioswale in this development is designed to capture stormwater along with some domestic water. Natural filtration methods, along with some environmentally products will keep the water safe to be around.
Activities & Culture
Tempe was Arizona’s music hotspot for decades, with several local bands becoming national stars such as:
The Meat Puppets
Gin Blossoms
The Replacements
Roger Clyne & the Peacemakers
This development includes five music venues of various scales to help bring the Tempe’s music culture back.
Sports fields are placed in the northern bioswale.
The site includes four exterior classrooms which can also be used for impromptu gathering spaces.
Five play areas for children are placed around the site for easy access.
ground level view of buildings lifted
exterior lobby @ ground level
Other attributes to the design:
Sun-oriented facades on buildings, with deep shading elements containing solar PV at certain solar angles
Possible shared water supply with the SRP canal at the site’s north edge to reciprocate when possible
private atriums open to the sky
entry to group courtyard of nine homes
exterior courtyard gardens + tall balcony
courtyard in the sky - 3 levels + city view
exterior lobby @ ground level
The purpose of this project:
To provide an introduction to the thought process for this project’s inception, purpose, and potential outcomes;
In a way that provokes thought about the current shortcomings of the housing industry in the United States and North Tempe’s ability to become a more balanced community;
So that people within and outside of the housing industry start to transform housing in Tempe (and beyond) into a more productive and well-rounded business model, possibly with some of the ideas and tools provided in this document.
The true origin story of this project:
Re-evaluating 10 years of working to improve Apache Blvd in Tempe, working with the city and developers to improve housing developments and our city. We (CVAC) barely made a dent in our goals. North Tempe developments are swallowed up by ASU students, keeping our tax-base extremely low, which greatly negates badly needed services to the area (ie: grocery, medical, local businesses, etc.) The city needs new innovative agreements with ASU so Tempe may grow into a public-private partnership of students AND professionals.
95% of the developments we have reviewed show very little creativity from the Housing Industry (developers, investors, architects, city staff, etc.) Tempe is going through a boom-town explosion of growth, and what we get is mostly 'lowest common denominator' designs that provide next to nothing for our communities and put more cars on the road.
Arizona Mills Mall Site, Tempe, AZ
The project includes five 3-page documents:
Basis for the project’s origin
A fictional story about how the development occurred
Environmental Goals
Attributes / ideas
A ‘developer rubric’ for evaluating a development’s desirability
Many housing developments in Arizona, as elsewhere, lack a willingness to address the lack-luster their buildings cause. See examples to the right.
Some issues to be addressed:
- Aesthetics, and the science behind what works for humans and the natural ecosystem
- Greater partnering of developers with communities
- Designing for our climate
- Inclusion of history and culture of place
- Assist in streamlining the initial design & entitlements phase for developers so they have more time/money for better design and community engagement.
- We need high density housing in our cities, but we need to figure out how to create buildings for living well.
Housing’s four criteria based on personal interviews:
1. People desire to live in small communities (150-300 people) where large developments should create distinct packets of housing within that amount of people in order to encourage the creation of communities where everyone knows each other, similar to a small rural town
2. People want to live directly next to nature (Biophilic Design integrated throughout)
3. Housing for all stages of life (allowing people to change homes within the same development); such as having 5%-10% of each small-community would contain short-term rentals allowing family and friends to visit/help/nurse loved ones in need
4. People want to live in a place that is as self-sustaining as possible (energy, food production, economy, etc); The Embrace would allow residents to live their entire lives within the site if they wanted to
Density and open space:
In order to create greater density, we will have to get creative on where and how to implement it.
Franciscan Renewal Center Master Plan
Two Townhouse buildings + Mercado
Looking at local culture, vibe, buildings, customs, and strong suits:
Within an 8.5 mile radius, we touch on many natural and man-made features such as the largest municipal park in the USA, several city centers, and two indigenous communities.
There are two freeways adjacent to the site (west and north), providing auto accessibility. But we prefer quality public transit. The Metro Light Rail is nearly done with the South Phoenix line, which connects downtown Phoenix to Baseline Road. The 30,00+ residents of The Embrace would likely bring funding for a future light rail along Baseline. Tempe’s streetcar could be expanded south to Baseline, thereby completing a transit loop that connects several city centers with the airport.
In Guadelupe, the center of town is a commercial building that has a huge courtyard at its center. Small openings in the large surrounding wall provide access. Celebrations, music, food vendors, shops all occur within. We recognized the power of courtyard architecture to bring communities together. The five commercial “Mercado” buildings are designed as circular and in-ward focused to be energized by various events.
View of Low-Rise (left), High-Rise (middle), and Townhouse (lower right-front) in below image
Two of the four “housing criteria” are demonstrated in the above diagram:
In a large housing building, we can break down a large community of thousands into smaller groups of ~200 people by, in this case, combining three levels of housing with a landscaped garden courtyard, as shown above. The large semi-private courtyard provides nature directly outside every apartment’s front door and views from a large balcony.
Mercado w/ music venue
courtyard in the sky - 3 levels + mountain view
Picking a site/location:
Ultimately, a site should be picked in collaboration with all the people from the developer, investors/banks, municipality, and (when the site is chosen) the community should be at the table.
An Integrative Design Process (IDP) should weigh potential sites.
In this case, we picked the Arizona Mills Mall site for its size, location, and surrounding amenities.
Tall Building Facades
The facade to the right shows the wide mouth of the ‘courtyards in the sky’.
The facade to the south shows the non-view side of the tall buildings. The 3D earth-printed boulders and large vertical metal shades protect the apartment interiors.
Images above show exterior of Townhouse “pods”
front door of unit 3
view of living/dining/kitchen
view from entry door
group courtyard of nine homes
exterior lobby @ ground level
coLAB studio conducted a thorough set of interviews and workshops which produced two options for the client.
Although we were ultimately not chosen to design and build the new church, our planning for its location and floor plan was utilized by the subsequent architectural team.