ASU/UofA Downtown Phoenix construction thread

[Jjs5056]

Some YMCA updates in the next post. Wish they had added some office space atop; 10-12 stories would have given the campus area much needed density.

[Jjs5056]

[Arquitect]

Originally Posted by Jjs5056

Some YMCA updates in the next post. Wish they had added some office space atop; 10-12 stories would have given the campus area much needed density.

I completely agree. Although, I appreciate the fact that it will at least be an interesting design. I really would love to see a tall and narrow development go up in the parking lot just south of this project.

[Jjs5056]

I hope so, too. Would love to see these kind of views all around the park. The north side is even bleaker.

[HooverDam]

Originally Posted by Arquitect

I completely agree. Although, I appreciate the fact that it will at least be an interesting design. I really would love to see a tall and narrow development go up in the parking lot just south of this project.

I agree. But keep in mind they'd need to leave room for a pedestrian through way between the ASU Rec Center and whatever gets developed on that lot. The Downtown Urban Form code calls for the "Taylor Paseo", basically a pedestrian East-West cut through going from 7th Ave to Central.

Currently the street blocks West of Central and North of Van Buren are insanely long North to South (I think some over 1,200 feet). We need an East-West ped/bike route to make the area more pedestrian friendly. I'm a bit worried that without careful planning, such an East-West path will be walled off from Civic Space park and thus rendering it less useful.

Something like this:


The blue shows the alignment I imagine the City wants. The red is more direct, follows the Taylor St alignment more and is probably better. But they'd have to cut out some of the LRT curbs, add a new crosswalk, and possibly a HAWK, which I'm not sure they'd want to do.

A HAWK definitely needs to be added at 7th Ave & Polk to connect Downtown to Lower Grand.

[phxSUNSfan]

Originally Posted by HooverDam

But they'd have to cut out some of the LRT curbs, add a new crosswalk, and possibly a HAWK, which I'm not sure they'd want to do.

A HAWK definitely needs to be added at 7th Ave & Polk to connect Downtown to Lower Grand.

Actually, that was done during the recent work on the utilities. They added a crosswalk by cutting the LRT curbs. The new crosswalk is aligned with Taylor Mall (paseo) and is north of the YMCA entrance; it aligns with the existing pedestrian mall that cuts through Civic Space Park from Central to 1st.

[nickw252]

[Vicelord John]

woah that building will be considered horrible in 20 years. It's the type of "trendy" architecture that goes from cutting edge, to outdated, then retro cool.

[phxSUNSfan]

The façade will be covered with glass and copper similar to the ASU nursing building and the UofA Medical School. This looks like there will be too much copper though...like the front and side of UofA's med school. I am going to wait to see what the final product looks like though.

The side of the building next to the AMPCO parking lot looks like it was designed to accommodate a structure built right next to it. Too bad that probably won't happen in the next few years.

[HooverDam]

Originally Posted by Vicelord John

woah that building will be considered horrible in 20 years. It's the type of "trendy" architecture that goes from cutting edge, to outdated, then retro cool.

Maybe, I think the interior from the renderings Ive seen at least, is going to be cool. Playing basketball on that court looks like its going to be rad, with big windows providing skyline views and views of the park/net, that seems cool.

[nickw252]

Originally Posted by Vicelord John

woah that building will be considered horrible in 20 years. It's the type of "trendy" architecture that goes from cutting edge, to outdated, then retro cool.

I completely agree. I don't like what I see so far. It looks like the Pontiac Aztec of buildings. Why is the south side of the building windowless? I don't understand why architects don't design classic looking symmetrical brick buildings with normal sized windows anymore. The original Y building is a good looking (if somewhat architecturally insignificant) building. Why couldn't they make the addition similar?

Hopefully it will turn out similar to the Health Science Building which isn't too offensive.

[PHX31]

/\ I think, as someone mentioned recently, they are planning for some otger building being built eventually on the lot to the south, hence no Windows (because there won't be any view). I dunno. .. I kind of like it overall.

[cygnusloop99]

Heres a link to an article that gives an overview on the new U of A / NAU Health Sciences building at the Bio Medical Campus. Lists the project team and has a lot of great images of it.

http://www.archdaily.com/366892/heal...co-architects/

[dtnphx]

Originally Posted by nickw252

I don't like what I see so far. It looks like the Pontiac Aztec of buildings.

[HX_Guy]

FAA permit shows the Arizona Cancer Center building will be 111' in height, they will be using a 150' tall tower crane.
That's pretty good for a 5 story building...residential building equivalent would probably be 9-10 stores in height.

[nickw252]

Originally Posted by HX_Guy

FAA permit shows the Arizona Cancer Center building will be 111' in height, they will be using a 150' tall tower crane.
That's pretty good for a 5 story building...residential building equivalent would probably be 9-10 stores in height.

That's a good height for that neighborhood. I rode my bike by this evening and they've started foundation work for the Cancer Center.

[Jjs5056]

Originally Posted by phxSUNSfan

The façade will be covered with glass and copper similar to the ASU nursing building and the UofA Medical School. This looks like there will be too much copper though...like the front and side of UofA's med school. I am going to wait to see what the final product looks like though.

The side of the building next to the AMPCO parking lot looks like it was designed to accommodate a structure built right next to it. Too bad that probably won't happen in the next few years.

The renderings don't show any copper on the facade- have you heard otherwise regarding the materials? Are you thinking it will be the white area, or the gray?
http://urbnphx.com/asu-downtown-to-b...ew-rec-center/

[phxSUNSfan]

Originally Posted by Jjs5056

The renderings don't any copper on the facade- have you heard otherwise regarding the materials? Are you thinking it will be the white area, or the gray?
http://urbnphx.com/asu-downtown-to-b...ew-rec-center/

I was told it would be over the area shaded light gray in that rendering. It could be wrong, but if you look at the building materials in the picture above of the actual building, the siding that is dark gray in the rendering is actually a dull copper color itself. I guess we'll have to wait and see...but that color on the building and whitish metal just don't look like they would work, but I wouldn't be surprised.

[MegaBass]

ASU downtown fitness center connected to Y to open in fall

When students attending Arizona State University at the downtown Phoenix campus return at the end of the summer, a new fitness center will await them.

Workers will complete construction of the Y at ASU in September. The building will be connected to the Lincoln Family Downtown YMCA, near First Avenue and Van Buren Street.

ASU is paying about $25 million to build a 64,283-square-foot building addition to the recreation center. Money for the project comes from student-facility fees.

The original YMCA building was built in 1955 and renovated in 2006. The five-story ASU project will add much-needed classroom space to the growing campus.

Enrollment at the youngest ASU campus is higher than both the West and Polytechnic campuses. Nearly 10,000 students attended classes on the campus during the 2012-13 school year. The student population is growing so quickly that the university rented more classroom space from the Arizona Center.

The Y at ASU also will upgrade the YMCA’s fitness amenities. The project will add 75,000 square feet to the YMCA.

Some of the space will be open to the public, but some areas, like classroom space, will be reserved for students.

[nickw252]

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