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Patrick K. Hardesty Midtown Multi-Service Center,
City of Tucson
Recipient of three AIA Design Merit Awards, a Governor's Energy Award,
and The Paul Waterbury Award for Outdoor Lighting from the IESNA,
the City of Tucson Patrick K. Hardesty Midtown Multi-Service Center
embodies a strong response to its desert location and the interplay
of the forces of sand, light, and water. The $10.4 million, 40,000
sf police substation, completed in association with Architekton
as Design Architect, is located on the perimeter of a major urban
park, facing a busy intersection. The major design challenge was
the presence of an arroyo that runs through the site. The solution
was to create a "land form" which diverts the water around the building
to a nearby regional detention basin. The arroyo wall then becomes
the defining boundary between community functions, represented by
the lantern-like public meeting room that reaches out toward the
parking area, and secure police functions. The project incorporates
responses to many of the sustainable design issues at the forefront
of design today. The desert climate was taken very seriously as
a determinant of built form, moderating south and east exposures
to the hot desert sun with vertical and horizontal shading elements
or deep recesses, and minimizing exposures to the west. Energy conservation
is accomplished through energy efficient lighting, daylighting,
a photovoltaic demonstration project, an easily-maintained central
plant, and water harvesting. |
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