| (Click
pictures to see larger images) |
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| The
first of four Scottsdale Perimeter buildings is completed,
offering views eastward across the Loop 101 to the McDowell
Mountains. |
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| The
expanse of window is broken by design elements that
help protect the glazing from direct sunlight. |
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| Indented
where the two wings come together, the building's main
entrance is a focal point. |
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Windows
are not only recessed but receive additional shade from
the mullion patterning of the
aluminum grillwork. |
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Scottsdale
office building enjoys freeway frontage and mountain views
by
RaeAnne Marsh
NORTH SCOTTSDALE - Furst Properties' Scottsdale Perimeter
project adds another sophisticated corporate building to the
north Scottsdale area along Loop 101. The first of what will
be four buildings, Perimeter One is more than three quarters
occupied by one
tenant, Meritage Homes, which shares part of the first floor
with First American Title and part of the second with one
other tenant.
Perimeter Two, Three and Four will likely be a little longer
off the drawing board, although Furst has owned the land more
than five years. Explains Beverly Eernisse, vice president
of Furst Properties, the company "has a philosophy of
building one at a time" and was already building on Scottsdale
Road a few miles south, in Kierland.
"We didn't intend to develop [right away] when we bought
it," Eernisse adds, noting that all company development
is for long term hold by the Furst family rather than building
to sell. The building of Perimeter One was actually started
earlier than planned because Meritage wanted office space
in that area and approached Furst, according to Eernisse.
What attracted Furst to the property was the knowledge that
the freeway, now completed, was coming to the area. "We
felt it was a great area that needed our type of product,"
says Eernisse. "There were not a lot of multi tenant
structures when we designed [Scottsdale Perimeter]; most of
it was user owned."
The property is a long, narrow parcel of land on 85th Street
that stretches along the freeway frontage. Perimeter One occupies
the northernmost position, with the three other buildings
planned to run down to Princess Drive parallel to the freeway.
This gives the property two advantages: visibility from the
freeway for the buildings along with tenants' signs and views
of the McDowell Mountains to the east and northeast, explains
project architect Mike Edwards, principal with Phoenix based
DFD CornoyerHedrick.
Those two concerns also influenced the site planning of parking
for the buildings, all of which is surface parking on the
west side of the buildings "so you're not looking over
the parking lot to the mountains," says Edwards. Likewise,
freeway traffic will not be looking over the parking lot to
the buildings.
"We
created something different from the 'big box' that's in the
area," observes Eernisse. Perimeter One is a three story
building encompassing 93,000 square feet of Class A office
space. It follows Scottsdale's "sensitive design guidelines,"
says Edwards, referring to the varied materials palette and
concern for shade on the windows.
Large masonry feature walls anchor the building to the site,
while the two tones of glazing help break up the mass of the
building. "It looks like a composition of parts"
rather than one large mass, Edwards notes, explaining the
goal was to create that effect but to bring cohesiveness to
the project. "The grillwork helps stitch the whole project
together."
The grillwork is on the windows. Deeply recessed in the masonry
walls, windows are crisscrossed by aluminum strips that serve
to further shade the windows as the sun moves across the sky.
The glass expanses of the building feature thin elements that
protrude, augmenting the shading without blocking the view
out of the building.
The building
features a central lobby, with the building wings meeting
at the indented lobby entrance. This design creates a visual
movement rather than a monotonous straight line across the
site, explains Edwards. It also provides areas for landscape
and for pedestrian areas between the ends of the buildings.
In addition to the central lobby, the design allows for private
entrances on the north and south ends of the building. |
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Ground
broke on Perimeter One in February 2005 and the shell was completed
on February 15 of this year. Construction on the post tension concrete
structure went smoothly, according to project manager Kelly Davis
of Phoenix based Wespac Construction, although they did have to
work around the shortage of concrete that the Phoenix area suffered
during that time. "We'd call and say we need 600 yards [of
concrete] Tuesday morning and they'd say you can't have it; you
can have 300 yards Wednesday at midnight," related Davis. Work
needed to be closely coordinated in order to not impact the construction
schedule, he notes.
The build out for Meritage Homes and First American Title was finished
with the completion of the shell building and they were able to
move in last month. Derek Ruterman, Wespac's project manager for
the interior construction, notes that they began work on the interior
early last summer, identifying long lead items such as leather wall
tiles. Meritage will be housing a design center-Studio M-in the
building's ground floor, and Ruterman worked with the design center
manager to lay out vignettes of living space to show off different
options.
Furst Properties maintains corporate offices in Scottsdale at 14648
N. Scottsdale Road, Suite 345, and interested parties may contact
Beverly Eernisse at (480) 951 9550. |
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