Atmosphere Tempe

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.

Terre Haute Convention Center

The entry, a two-story glass volume, is on axis with the intersection of Wabash and 8th Street. This provides a dramatic welcoming gesture to the city, and introduces into Terre Haute a crisp and elegant facade befitting a prominent civic gathering space. This glass volume is shaded with a generous overhead cornice and with horizontal sun-shade devices at its southern exposure. This is a sustainable design feature allowing for an abundance of natural daylighting, reducing the electric lighting demand, and providing a means of blocking the harshest sun angles thereby moderating the mechanical cooling requirements.

The length of primary street façade consists of large glazed openings looking into the Convention Center’s active pre-function spaces. This transparency allows the energy and activity inside the Convention Center to support and contribute to the downtown Terre Haute streetscape. Both this pre-function space, and the building’s primary circulation artery are essentially indoor extensions of the downtown pedestrian pathways. These openings are framed by a regular spacing of stone columns, breaking the building’s scale down into an appropriate module for the local urban context.

The remainder of the building is trimmed with banded limestone and concrete for a durable, low-maintenance, and regionally sensitive exterior. The building is organized around a central circulation street that provides access to the pre-function spaces and the main ballroom. Up to 900 guests can be seated and served full course meals prepared in the facility’s state of the art kitchen. Separate back-of-house circulation provides food and server access to the main room without passing through the public spaces. Access is provided to permit the introduction of large items into the ballroom allowing trade shows to take advantage of the facility. The main room can be subdivided in to as many as six large meeting rooms for hosting smaller events. Acoustics was a key design criterion necessitating the use of high performance operable partitions so that multiple events can be hosted concurrently without acoustic interference. This feature provides the operator maximum booking flexibility. Breakout rooms are provided on the opposite side of the main circulation corridor. A two-story atrium provides visual access to more breakout areas located on the second floor. Full food service can be provided on the upper level as events may require.

Flexibility was a key design requirement allowing the facility to host meetings with up to 2000 participants or as few as 10 or 12 guests. Infrastructure is provided to allow the main room to host trade shows. State of the art IT infrastructure permits digital wireless internet access to all rooms and potential event configurations. A DAS systems make sure guests will have cell phone access at all times no matter how large an event is being hosted.

The Congress at Library Square

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

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 Depot at Nickel Plate

The Depot at Nickel Plate provides an upscale blend of residential and retail space in a pedestrian friendly mixed-use development that helped launch the revitalization of downtown Fishers.

The lower level of the mixed-use development consists of approximately 17,000 square feet of retail, dining, and entertainment space as well as a 430-space cast-in-place parking garage. The Depot at Nickel Plate amenities includes two exterior courtyards, a fitness center, pool, leasing office, and community lounge areas.

Conveniently located just blocks from parks, trails, and Interstate 69, The Depot at Nickel Plate is the prime location for anyone looking to enjoy all that Fishers has to offer. Each apartment is equipped with stainless steel EnergyStar appliances, granite countertops, oversized soaking tubs, energy efficient lighting, and wood style flooring.

River North at Keystone

The River North office building is strategically located on the scenic 25-acre lake of Keystone at the Crossing. The east face of the building embraces the morning sunrise and capitalizes on serene water views. Simple forms frame the glass openings and pay respect to the nearby existing architecture. The multi-tenant building further leverages the site by incorporating small retreat terraces overlooking the lake and centrally positioning the vertical circulation adjacent to the large two-story gathering hub, while enhanced exterior spaces lure tenants to the outdoors to work, relax and play.

Upon entering the 116,836 square foot, 5-story building, visitors are immediately drawn to the pass-through views to the lake. The interior design is intentionally subtle, but sophisticated. This design philosophy encourages the eye to continue outward to reinforce the connection to nature. Biophilic patterns can be found throughout the interior design, which is a unique concept for a multi-tenant development. The views to the water and connection to nature were leveraged, and to further the biophilic story the design team incorporated biomorphic patterns within the interior wood cladding, utilized simple-natural materials, and honed in on the human desire for an identifiable but safe risk situation at the glass railing overlook. The natural beauty of the walnut wood is observed from the main floor on the underside of the stairs and is intended to symbolize the complexity and order found in nature.

The River North office building at its core incorporates a simplistic design approach. However, digging deeper, the design is extremely complex and unique to the market. The design provides a piece of serenity within a continually evolving and very desirable area of Indianapolis. Visitors and tenants enjoy, within walking distance, many of the City’s most highly regarded restaurants and retail shops. This building is part of a holistic redevelopment of Keystone at the Crossing, including a five-story, 198-unit apartment building and parking garage, and a 129-room Hampton Inn & Suites Hotel.

Axis

The building provides easy and efficient access to all home, work, and leisure destinations and consists of retail space, a 47,000 square foot grocery store on the first floor, and 325 luxury residential units wrapped around a 435 space parking structure.

CSO’s designers combined functionality with beauty and form through the use of architectural mesh on the exterior of the parking garage. The transparency of the mesh acts as a natural ventilation system, which reduces the need for the need for costly HVAC systems. The use of mesh results in an abundance of natural light and air flow through the garage, permitting car emissions to be dispersed outside and improving the air quality in the space.

Each apartment portrays a modern design and reflects an updated interior that permeates the living space with the ultimate in luxury. Units feature distinctively styled rooms and luxurious accommodations. The one- and two-bedroom units feature granite countertops, roman soaking tubs, and stainless steel appliances. Supported by fabulous amenities and unrivaled community features, Axis includes 37,000 square feet of combined interior and exterior play space, including a Sky Bar with city views, an Aqua Lounge, a heated resort-style pool, 24-hour state-of-the-art fitness center, and a Great Lawn open area with lounge areas, a garden, and a fire pit.

Hall Place

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.