Soleri Bridge and Plaza Approved

The long-awaited downtown pedestrian bridge and plaza designed by famed architect Paolo Soleri will move forward this fall/winter, following the Scottsdale City Council’s final approval of a new budget. The City Council earlier this year unanimously endorsed funding the bridge in the final version of the 2008-09 budget. The recent vote means the remaining $1.7 million for the project is officially in place and construction can begin. Scottsdale Public Art Program has funded $1 million for the project and an additional $500,000 funding is from developer, Starwood Capital Group and Golub & Co., which has also pledged another $1 million in art at the Waterfront.

The 100-ft-long bridge spans the Arizona Canal west of Scottsdale Road, with a 22,000-sq-ft plaza on the south bank. The bridge will connect the Scottsdale Waterfront on the north side of the canal with the various retail and dining establishments on the south side of the canal.

However, more important than its structural function is the project’s cultural significance as a Soleri design, since this is his first bridge to be constructed in the world. The design for the bridge draws upon solar and celestial events, an important element in much of Soleri’s work. It will feature two steel-clad, 64-ft pylons that will generate a light beam on the walking surface of the bridge, to mark solar events and reiterate the connection of humans to the environment, light and architecture. The plaza on the south side of the canal features a second set of pylons, which will house the largest bell assemblage ever created by the artist.

University Recreation Center Expands

A $22 million project to expand the University of Arizona Student Recreation Center is underway. Sundt Construction Inc. is the contractor. The 52,000-sq-ft addition will include a new fitness and weight room, a multipurpose gymnasium, offices and storage/support space for outdoor campus recreation. Along with the new structure, the expansion will feature new outdoor space for sand volleyball as well as a new bouldering feature. Crews will also extend utility infrastructure from the main campus tunnel system to the site. The project is scheduled for completion in November 2009. Sasaki Associates is the architect.

Hot Spot Gets New Fire Station

Sundt Construction also broke ground on Fire Central, a $28.5 million facility for the Tucson Fire Department at 495 West Cushing Street in downtown Tucson. The facility will have offices for fire department officials, and will also serve as Battalion One headquarters and house the hazardous materials control team. The three-story structure will include a 16-bed dormitory and a five-stall apparatus bay. Storage areas and a temporary evidence room will be included in the 62,000-sq-ft facility, along with a 132-space underground parking garage. The $28.5 million project also has a fire fighters memorial at the entrance and a pedestrian greenway that will link nearby streets with walking and bicycle paths. Welman Sperides Mickelberg Architects is the designer. Scheduled for completion in May, Fire Central will replace Tucson’s Fire Station No. 1 at 265 S Church Ave, which was also built by Sundt nearly 40 years ago.

Scottsdale Princess Gets Bourbon Steak House Restaurant

Owned and managed by Strategic, the new 10,000-sq-ft Bourbon Steak House restaurant boasts a 5,000 bottle wine room. Other features include a wood fired steak kitchen, private dining bar and outdoor dining areas. The design team of New York >> based AvroKo, and local Scottsdale architects Allen & Philp, created a spectacular environment inspired by the desert during the arts and crafts movement. The restaurant is detailed in limestone, wood and metal. Waltz completed this project in four months and saved the owner $2 million through value engineering and subcontractor selection.

X Lofts Marks the Spot in Scottsdale

X Lofts Condominiums, Scottsdale, Ariz.

Summit Builders Construction Company has completed construction of the X Lofts luxury condominium project located on Osborn Road just west of Scottsdale Road for Grace Communities. X Lofts provides 82 luxury condominium units within three stories and 134,000 sq ft. The one and two bedroom units feature high-end finishes throughout and range in size from 1,600 to 2,500 sq ft. The residential complex is constructed on a 16-in.-thick podium slab set above a below-grade parking facility and features a brick façade to compliment the architectural integrity of the Old Town Scottsdale area. Amenities include a clubhouse, fitness facility and large pool/spa located in a center courtyard. The development also features open fireplaces and fire pits, armadas and outside dining areas. Todd & Associates, Inc. of Phoenix served as project architect.

Retaining Walls Sculpt Oak Creek Canyon

DBM Contractors Inc. has completed a $7.5 million rockfall containment project in Oak Creek Canyon along SR 89A that connects Sedona and Flagstaff. The Banjo Bill Rockfall Containment Project for ADOT repaired 350 ft of the roadway, a site of dangerous rockfall and debris flow down the steep slopes of the canyon following the natural draws eroded into the canyon slope.

The project included installing two 90-ft-long by 30-ft-high retaining walls at the bottom of the eroded channels, creating a basin to catch and contain the falling rocks. ADOT consultants designed Arizona’s first anchored micropile wall system to facilitate construction on the very steep slopes. To anchor the wall system, DBM placed 136-each micropiles to a depth of 48 ft with four rows of permanent tieback anchors. The micropiles, which acted as the wall vertical structural elements, were installed at a 16-in. on center spacing and were laterally supported by an anchored shotcrete facing. DBM built reinforced earth access benches at each wall location to provide construction access for the equipment at the top alignment of the walls. The team removed the temporary construction benches as the anchors and shotcrete facing was installed in a top-down manner.

The finished wall included an outer architectural shotcrete facing which was stained and carved to blend in with the local rock formations. This carved facing was installed bottom-up after the anchors and structural facing were in place.

Because of the sensitive nature of the area, all work was completed under the oversight of both the Forestry Department and the ADOT. DBM self-performed much of the work and Calif.-based Boulderscape completed the architectural shotcrete fascia. NCS Consultants LLC of Tucson and URS Corporation of Phoenix provided engineering and design.

Mountain Ranch Marketplace Begins with Basha’s

Newland Communities, the owner of the planned community of Estrella in Goodyear, has broken ground on Mountain Ranch Marketplace, Estrella’s first major retail center. The 170,000 sq ft specialty retail center, located on the northwest corner of Estrella Parkway and Elliot Road, will be anchored by a 50,000-sq-ft Bashas’ Supermarket. The new Bashas’ store is scheduled to open to the public in fall 2009.

Newland Communities formed a partnership last year with Kitchell Corporation to develop and build Mountain Ranch Marketplace in Estrella. In addition to Bashas’, a number of retailers have expressed interest in Mountain Ranch Marketplace including a day-care center, a bank, a drugstore, various restaurants and a hardware store.

The shopping center is one of few in the area to achieve LEED core and shell certification. Among the many sustainable elements incorporated into the design are solar technologies, low-flow water fixtures and low-water-use landscaping, low levels of VOCs and preferred parking spaces for fuel-efficient vehicles. Construction debris will also be recycled.

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