Concrete Atelier

Architectural Review, The, May, 2000 by Wendell Burnette

DESIGN STUDIO, SCOTTSDALE, ARIZONA, USA

Stark geometry and inventive use of raw materials characterize this modest office for an interior design firm in Arizona.

Like Will Bruder for whom he used to work, Wendell Burnette creates taut, distilled architecture inflected by the austere beauty of the Arizona landscape. Frugal geometry and expressive use of functional raw materials characterize his stark, monolithic structures, notably a series of houses (AR November 1997) and more recently a studio for David Michael Miller Associates, an interior design firm based in Scottsdale.

Locked between two streets in an urban grid, the site is a narrow, south-facing lot. Two mature native Arizona Mesquite trees are its sole distinguishing feature. Oriented on a north-south axis, the new building is a long, linear block placed hard up against the west edge of the site, abutting its neighbour. At the north end, a small service block wraps around a walled garden courtyard to enclose the largest Mesquite tree. This gentle interaction of nature and artifice is the dominant theme of the building, which seems to emerge from the landscape, rather than abruptly graft itself onto it. On the east side, a linear garden of native shrubs, cacti and succulents extends along the length of the building, softening both its mass and the impact of the inevitable car parking.

The strong simple form recalls the powerful contours of the Southwest's vernacular walled architecture, the concrete block walls a modern version of massive adobe structures. An extremely basic yet surprisingly adaptable material, the grey blocks combine structural, insulation and fire resistance properties in a single skin 12in (300mm) thick. Small green tinted windows randomly punctuate the east flank, like rhinestones, while on the west side, slivers of clear plexiglass set between vertical joints in the thick block wall admit thin shafts of light that animate the softly luminous interior.

At the main south end, the two long flank walls project beyond the building line to enclose an external room, sheltered and shaded by a cantilevered roof. The south wall is fully glazed, like a tall shop window, revealing glimpses of the inner realm. At ground floor level, a spine of circulation along the west wall anchors groups of workstations and the reception space. A vertical service tower near the main entrance conceals storage, lavatories and a staircase that twists up to the first floor. Morning light streams in through a thinly sliced piece of Indian onyx set in the east wall, in the unrendered concrete carapace. At the top of the stair a steel bridge runs longitudinally past a library and conference room to the principal's office set at the north end of the building. This spans the width of the plan, like a choir loft in a Mexican chapel, with a privileged view of the Mesquite tree in the courtyard patio below.

Set against the nondescript small town landscape, the compact building has a powerful presence that conceals an intimate, workmanlike atelier designed in collaboration with David Miller, the client. Furniture, paintings and artefacts provide an eloquent contrast with the big wall planes of grey concrete, like rough hands cradling precious stones. With this building, Burnette extends his convincing contemporary interpretation of Modernist values of spatial interpenetration and structural expression, but also demonstrates a capacity for material invention and celebration, C. S.

1 At the north end, the building wraps around a patio courtyard dominated by a huge native Mesquite tree.

2 North end terminates in a small service block that also defines an external courtyard or patio.

3 South end is a tall glass wall enclosed by massive planes of grey concrete blocks which extend to form an outdoor room.

4 Glazed north end overlooks the patio, a traditional form reinterpreted.

5 Conference area at first floor level overlooking the spinal corridor below. Light is diffused through the glazed ends and also percolates through slivers of plexiglass set in the west wall (right).

6 Elegant furniture and artefacts contrast with the rawness of the blockwork skin.

1 entrance

2 reception

3 wc

4 workstations

5 service tower

6 patio courtyard

7 parking

8 garden

9 conference/library

10 principal's office

11 bridge

Architect

Wendell Burnette Architects Phoenix

Project team

Wendell Burnette, Michael Le Blanc,

Christopher Alt

Interior design

David Michael Miller Associates

Structural engineer

Rudow and Berry

Electrical engineer

C. A. Energy Designs

Mechanical engineer

Technica

Landscape design

Ten Eyck Landscape Architects

Photographs

Timothy Hursley