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Architects: will bruder+PARTNERS
- Area: 7700 ft²
- Photographs: Bill Timmerman
Text description provided by the architects. The architecture of Loloma 5 is a thoughtful and sophisticated acknowledgement of the traditional and modern roots of its Old Town Scottsdale context—a place with pride in its false-front, covered boardwalk, and "old west" friendly downtown image. The project creates a live/work environment in the heart of Scottsdale that celebrates both the historic and physical context of the place.
Approached from its west face along Marshall Way, clients and friends of the Loloma community are welcomed by a small natural desert garden. The project emerges from the plane of the land by a first level architectural plinth of sandblasted random coursed rose/gray concrete masonry units. Above the block the west façade serves as a shield against the sun with it random width ribbed gray Rheinzinc cladding and deep recessed narrow vertical windows of varied widths.
Along the south, patios connect in a linear courtyard to create intimate entries for each of the five units. Above the doors, angled planes project outward, breaking down the verticality and further expressing each individual unit. These corrugated metal planes seem to fly passed one another, connected only by a long sliver of light from recessed slot windows. Limiting the intense southern light, each of the corrugated planes is punctured only with a single simple square of glass.
The undulation at the south is mimicked at the north façade where the architecture becomes an accordion with each of the interior spaces folding out to capture dramatic views of Camelback Mountain. Carefully detailed window walls are screened from the sun behind perforated aluminum scrims, while private cantilevered balconies project behind aluminum plate railings. Parking stalls tuck quietly below each of the balconies, supporting the dramatic energy of the space. The entire auto court is veiled behind a perforated metal gate and an ocotillo fence.
The layering of the materials and transparencies creates a street presence at the exterior while maintaining privacy on the interior. At the ground level, the minimal footprint accommodates an entry foyer and the office space for the unit. Ascending the narrow stair to the second level, the eye is turned to the long open views to Scottsdale and Camelback Mountain beyond. This view remains a backdrop for the social functions within the unit as well as from the outdoor balcony. The sleeping suite at the upper floor also enjoys this same view. At the south side of the sleeping suite, a large private patio captures views of the nearby Papago Buttes and the open desert sky.
In scale, proportion, finely articulated details, massing, and materially, Loloma 5 draws carefully from its local context and environment, carving out a unique place between the history and future of Scottsdale, for comfortable and sustainable urban desert living.
