CONTEXT: 22-acre Protestant church campus within a
transitional light-industrial business park in Gilbert, Arizona.
SITE: Starting with an existing campus of four buildings
that needed connectivity, the architects developed a campus masterplan. The Commons – a bookstore + café – is
the first of the new buildings, continuing a long-standing relationship between
the owner and architects. Located at
the planned campus core, it fulfills the role of the social ‘third place’ for the
growing church community.
CONCEPT: The inside-out ‘pavilion’ has transformed the campus
by opening on all sides, becoming the ‘hang out’ for multiple generations. The crisp, modern expression, a
departure from the campus context, provides spatial clarity, honest materiality
and precise execution. Weaving
pragmatic and poetic concepts, the owner is thrilled with the high-functioning,
open-setting that offers a variety of experiences under the iconic folded roof. The Commons, the highly-valued new
addition to the campus, sets the new horizon for all future work. http://www.debartoloarchitects.com/builtwork.html