As one of the only cities in the Phoenix metropolitan area that is landlocked by neighboring municipalities, Tempe has avoided the region’s characteristic sprawl and has instead pursued growth by enthusiastically embracing increasing density and taller developments.
The building’s base contributes to the energetic downtown environment with nearly fully glazed elevations along the public streets and a canopy that lends protective shade in the 110-degree summers. The mid-level parking decks are screened with a visually cooling blend of blues and silvers. Likewise, the building’s external color palette is drawn from a range of lighter grays and off-whites, not so bright as to be reflective, but light enough to effectively deal with intense solar radiation. Wood and metal provide accents at areas of close pedestrian contact. As a contributing member of the growing Tempe skyline, the building is capped by a lighted trellis/cornice feature.
Leasing, amenities, and 5,000 s.f. of retail space occupy the first floor, with 5-levels of parking garage above. Levels 6-19 are apartment floors with 252 units, arranged in an H-Shape plan configuration, with courtyards facing east and west. These 6th floor courtyards offer intimate outdoor spaces for residents. A variety of amenities occur at the 20th floor, including a pool, hot tub, covered terraces, and an indoor lounge and fitness area. All of these spaces are afforded sweeping vistas of the city beyond, most notably a great view of Hayden Butte, a 330’ tall volcanic uplift and popular hiking destination, a few blocks to the north. Hayden Butte is home to 1,000 year old petroglyphs, along with the signature 60’ tall letter “A” belonging to the University.
At the center of the neighborhood is The Congress, a newly constructed 1 and 2-bedroom apartment community. The five-story, 111-unit development called for the demolition of a vacant, one-story commercial building and the development of a low-rise, modern building with a parking garage wrapped on the south side and west sides by ground-level building amenities. The amenity space at The Congress includes a rooftop terrace, courtyard with entertaining spaces, fitness center, media lounge, and conference center.
While the site is essentially a square, the building’s south façade was designed as a subtle curve in response to the Indianapolis Public Library across the street. This results in a corner at 9th and Meridian that seems to jut out, peering down Meridian. The entire sweep of the south elevation was held 1 floor lower than the rest of the building, both to help with daylighting the internal courtyard, and to support a rooftop terrace which takes advantage of this location for maximum views toward downtown. The bulk of the Meridian Street façade is organized into vertical bays, terminating at the north with a blade sign. A masonry base unifies the entire building. Select apartments have individual roof top access, set back from the façade.
The Arbuckle mixed-use urban living project was one of the key initiatives in the Town of Brownsburg’s goal to transform the Arbuckle park area of downtown into a vibrant, pedestrian-friendly, economic center with many commercial, retail, and residential options for residents.
Designed to fit sensitively into the fabric of Brownsburg’s historic downtown, the architecture of the Arbuckle is about placemaking and creating resort-style urban living options for Brownsburg. The human-scale façades are carefully detailed with warm tones of high quality brick, cast stone lintels, and traditional cornices.
The retail storefronts work together with the streetscape design to create an upscale, walkable, live-work-play destination in the heart of Brownsburg. The building is designed to completely conceal the ample parking and to create a beautifully landscaped interior courtyard with numerous amenities.
The 200+ residences include studio, one and two bedroom luxury apartments.
The Mezz is a luxury apartment development that consists of 2 buildings located adjacent to the Center for the Performing Arts. The project is a public private partnership with the City of Carmel and provides an upscale urban living opportunity in the heart of Carmel’s new downtown.
The Mezz on the Monon is a 5-story building that includes 20 one and two bedroom residential units. The 8,000 sf main floor consists of common amenity spaces including a lounge and fitness area.
The Mezz on 3rd, also a 5-story building, provides space for the developer’s corporate headquarters on the main floor in addition to 24 studio, 1 bedroom, and 2 bedroom apartments.
A particularly narrow site resulted in one end of the east building’s foundation only being 22 feet wide. In order to maximize space designers relied on solutions such as spiral staircases in two-story apartments.
The Collegiate on Angliana is a four building complex adjacent to the University of Kentucky campus in Lexington that utilizes a unique 2-story unit design that eliminates the public corridor on floors 2 and 4, thereby creating a highly efficient floor plate with very attractive units in one, two, three and four bedroom configurations. Every apartment features a spacious layout with secluded areas that provide residents with plenty of space to socialize and private areas for downtime.
The apartments within the complex have townhome-style layouts and include fully equipped kitchens, hardwood floors, private balconies, oversized closets, long hallways for maximum privacy, and spacious living rooms. Additionally, the complex has amenities such as a resort style pool, hot tub and sundeck, fitness center, indoor/outdoor gathering spaces, computer center and study lounge, clubhouse, and basketball and volleyball courts.
Hall Place is an urban mixed-use block at the southwest corner of 18th Street and Illinois Street in Indianapolis, providing housing opportunities within the rapidly developing IU Health District. Taking the place of an existing surface parking lot, this project for Arrow Street Development consists of 279 apartment units along Hall Place facing west, and a small amount of retail space at the ground level. Three stories of structured parking occupy the base behind the façade, and there is a 4th level resident amenity terrace wrapped on three sides by the apartment tower.
The exterior design that is timeless, ordered, and traditional in character, detail, and massing. Masonry runs full height from the ground to the parapet, with architectural detailing breaking down the scale in regular bays across three distinct but thematically related facades.
It is to be located across the street from “Wesley Place”, another Arrow Street project designed by CSO. Together these projects will contribute to an enhanced vitality in this rapidly changing area.
