Line and Space
Line and Space Guided by a rare understanding and sympathy for the natural environment, Line and Space sets an example for other firms throughout the nation. In a fragile and unrelenting ecosystem, environmental harmony is the key to success. In this spirit, theirs is an architecture of innovation, beauty, mystery and surprise that develops a visual sequence to thrill the imagination; coaxing the observer along a determined path of temptation to a revealing final climax - an architecture which embodies the true essence of place.
An American Institute of Architects (AIA) Western Mountain Region Firm of the Year and Arizona AIA Sustainable Firm of the Year
For thirty-five years, Line and Space has studied and perfected their understanding of the climate and the land. Extensive programming helps to define the true needs of both the client and the site. Their architecture shows reverence to the textures and form of the fragile environment. Above all, the work of Line and Space demonstrates that architecture is an art - one that should please the senses while uplifting the spirit.
Boyce Thompson Arboretum Visitor Center Superior, Arizona 1988
Located in the fragile Sonoran Desert and straddling the historic entry trail, the Boyce Thompson Arboretum Visitors Center is the gateway to a world famous desert plant collection. The center is programmed to house interpretive, administration, and retail functions. Along with its many resource-conserving aspects, this project pioneered experiments in the creation of tempered micro-climates and bioadaptable transition. The project was one of only six nationwide to receive the AIA/CSA Environmental Award - predecessor to the AIA Committee on the Environment (COTE) Top Ten Award and was included in a two year traveling exhibition on environmental design. 2
NOTE: Tempered microclimates are those semi-outdoor spaces where temperature is shifted a few degrees from adjacent areas to extend usability of the space, hence reducing the need for indoor air conditioned areas. Bioadaptable transition is the creation, through architecture, of space which mitigates the affect on our bodies of abrupt thermal and visual changes from the very bright, hot, outside desert environment to prototypical cool, less bright conditioned interior space. 1. Abrupt transition between inside and outside is mitigated. Here, utilizing the first known use of a waffle slab forming system to create an open lattice, the light intensity is reduced and partial shade is created as precursor to full shade and then, finally, air conditioned interior space. 2. The building entry is marked by an evaporative cooling tower and a heat generating greenhouse; each provides the necessary climate enhancement to make the outdoor entry space comfortable. 3. Rainwater harvesting is integral to this project. Vertical standpipes deliver water to a central storage system for use in irrigation.
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4. Acrylic sky domes of varying transmissivities are utilized by plant scientists to vary the light quality of exterior spaces. 5. Straddling the historic trail, the Visitor Center is the gateway to the Arboretum.
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The Arroyo House Tucson, Arizona 1989
Though located in what may be termed a “desert forest,� the Arroyo House was placed, through careful site analysis (including aerial photography), in a way which required the removal of almost no vegetation. The house bridges a natural arroyo creating no disruption to the flow of water and wildlife. Line and Space acted as both architect and builder for this home. 1
In the desert, shade making is the key to energy-conserving architecture. The sombrero-like roof, more than twice the floor area of the house, assures that during the summer the exterior enclosure (both walls and glass) is protected, greatly reducing the need for air conditioning. During the winter, as the sun angle drops, passive warming is utilized. This project was included in four tours of Arizona Architecture hosted by the Smithsonian Institute.
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1. The arroyo is spanned by a precast concrete double tee, purchased in conjunction with production for a local parking garage structure. 2. Rather than disrupting an important aspect of the site, the house bridges the arroyo. 3. Conscious design and careful construction allowed all vegetation to thrive, helping to dissolve the building into its environment. 4. The connection over the arroyo, between the public and private realms, also acts as a gathering and viewing space. 5. Fascia is painted to blend with the sky. Large holes were created in the sombrero-like roof to assure proper natural light for existing vegetation such as the Mesquite tree pictured.
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Arizona Sonora Desert Museum Restaurant and Gallery Complex Tucson, Arizona 1993
Considered one of the top ten zoos worldwide, the Arizona Sonora Desert Museum desired space for dining and special events that could be experienced as a metaphorical exhibit of building in the desert. As a place which is designed to encourage patrons to be stewards of the environment, this building demonstrates many cutting-edge resource-conserving ideas. While the complex may be seen as an extension of the work done by Line and Space in designing tempered microclimates and relocating mechanically conditioned programmatic space from a building’s interior to the outside, new ground was broken here. This project included the first known use of recycling HVAC exhaust air to actively temper exterior space as well as a number of innovative water harvesting systems. Environment merged with function dictated building form and existing vegetation was virtually untouched. Line and Space served as the architect as well builder on this project.
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1. One of several outdoor dining terraces demonstrating ecological responsibility; exhaust air from the interior is recycled to the exterior to get one more “free” use. 2. Chosen for its long life and low-embodied energy, stone recycled from a nearby construction site is used for the building’s exterior walls. With careful placement on the site, the transitions between built and natural environments are softened. 3. The painted steel spine acts as a wayfinding device helping direct visitors through the building as well as creating both a light intensity and thermal comfort transition zone. 4. Spot diffusers allow control over the individual’s personal microclimate. 5. This basin and spigot celebrate water in the desert. Metered out one drip at a time, the “drip” fountain is supplied from a cistern filled with rainwater harvested from a rooftop of one of the dining terraces. It is designed to run for two months after a typical rainfall.
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National Historic Trails Interpretive Center Casper, Wyoming 2002
The National Historic Trails Interpretive Center, a facility dedicated to promoting and preserving the heritage surrounding America’s historic wagon trails, is constructed within a dramatic ten-acre sand dune high above Wyoming’s North Platte River. From here we tell stories of the westward migration, giving visitors a new awareness and appreciation of the time, place and character of the land. By burying the building’s north half in the sand dune and opening its south side to the warming sun, the center uses its location within the site to provide enormous energy savings. A filtered fresh air intake system optimizes natural cooling. 1. The model provides a bird’s eye view of the “moving west wall,” entry sequence and exhibits.
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2. Information counter with gift shop in the background 3. Entry to theater (the theater is the elliptical center space seen in the model) 4. Gently tucked into its fragile, free-flowing sand site, the Interpretive Center overlooks where historic trails crossed the North Platte River. 5. Natural daylight is ushered in by a light scoop and washes the natural stone walls of the interior.
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Campbell Cliffs Tucson, Arizona 2004
Incised into solid bedrock below a shear south face of the Santa Catalina Mountains, Campbell Cliffs is inspired by its surroundings. Despite the spacious interior volumes, the home rises only four feet above the highest point on the lot and is positioned to allow a sense of growth from its location in the Sonoran Desert; a complimentary rather than combative relationship. Because Line and Space acted as architect-builder for the project, all building was accomplished from specially-marked trails, and site specific scaffold platforms bridged the terrain with little or no damage to the ground. Grow lights below the scaffolding assured survival of the vegetation. 1. Natural stone, exposed concrete, bead-blasted stainless steel fascias, wood and glass unite the residence with its fragile desert site. 2. Thoughtful design and careful construction preserved rock outcroppings and vegetation within one or two feet of construction. In this construction photo you see a bench and fountain integrated with an existing boulder. The plant growing out of the rock was preserved throughout construction and is an integral part of the composition .
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3. An extensive site analysis marked the locations of mature native plants to be preserved. The saguaro cactus in these photos were stabilized and protected during construction to become an integral part of the landscape design. 4. Indirect sun reflected through the clerestory from the polished stainless steel roof surface makes the use of electric lights unnecessary. 5. Line and Space not only served as architect, but was the builder as well. Extensive, innovative prototyping and detail development conducted throughout the project ensured the highest levels of design and craftsmanship. For example, note the cantilevered, site fabricated, solid aluminum handrail, and the hand fabricated, waxed, raw steel fireplace with integrated supply air register (black element in photo).
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Integrated Shade Seat Bus Stop Tucson, Arizona 2004
In this desert environment, shade is the critical issue. The challenge was to design bus stops that could provide shade and comfort during the hot summer months. The Integrated Shade Seat provides shading throughout the day using both horizontal and vertical elements. These elements work in conjunction with one another to provide a variety of opportunities for shelter from the desert sun. The design is modular, ready to adapt to diverse conditions, and lends a sense of security by providing individual seating. As each shade seat is individual - the modular design facilitates numerous configurations with the number of seats adjusted to specific site needs. Once seating is determined the sun path and shading is modeled by computer to analyze the best orientation of the seats for each site to provide shade at any given time during the day. Prototypes were constructed and tested at full scale in attempts to find an appropriate material suitable for Tucson’s harsh desert climate, while providing strength, durability, and graffiti resistance. Research into high strength concrete led us to a new material technology - Ductal. Working with Lafarge, Canada and CAST (Center for Architectural Structures and Technology at the University of Manitoba) a precast, Ductal prototype was successful in providing the required strength, durability and graffiti resistance. A polycarbonate rain panel and raised seat surface have been incorporated to provide protection for users against the rain and heat. We worked with Global Solar Corporation to incorporate locally produced photovoltaics to power self-contained 100,000 hour LED lighting. The Integrated Shade Seat, with its numerous configuration possibilities, creates highly visible, safe, and comfortable shelters for bus riders.
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1. Finding Inspiration from the shade created from the vertical Saguaro and the sheltering horizontal shell of the desert tortoise, the Integrated Shade Seat attempts to pursue a desert appropriate design for shading throughout the day. 2. Modular design for numerous configurations. The number of seats is adjusted according to need. Shading is created for different orientations. 3. The horizontal and vertical elements of the Shade Seat provide work together to provide shelter from the intense summer sun. A small photovoltaic panel on the roof of each shade seat provides the energy to power integrated LED’s for lighting the area during the evening.
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University of Arizona Poetry Center Tucson, Arizona 2007
The University of Arizona Poetry Center, one of the first and only buildings on any university campus that is solely dedicated to celebrating and advancing poetry and literature, provides a home for an outstanding collection of contemporary poetry, as well as a meeting place for students, visitors, writers and readers. Building form was inspired by programmatic contradictions such as the desire to read in day-lit garden space while at the same time maximizing preservation of the book by only using them in UV free, temperaturecontrolled environments. While the building itself is organized as a movement sequence from noisy gathering space to quiet contemplation garden, equally important was the need to create gentle thermal and light transitions from inside to outside, blurring the distinction between garden and stacks, protecting glass from direct sun and providing sheltered, tempered, outside gathering space.
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1. The seeming visual contradiction of opposing angles along the south is rationally derived from response to the needs of interior functions. 2. Visitors to the center may contemplate in a quiet garden area defined by a “turning window” on one side and on the other, a masonry screen wall which, in abstracted binary code, spells out the line from a Richard Shelton poem, “….you shall learn the art of silence”. 3. Intimate spaces are provided throughout the facility for small group discussions or more solitary contemplation. 4. Natural light, filtered by the binary wall and bamboo, enters through the “rotating window” to illuminate the stacks and reading areas.
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Red Rock Canyon Visitor Center Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area, Nevada 2010
Intended to introduce up to 1,000,000 visitors a year to the wonders of Red Rock Canyon, the new Interpretive Facility differs from traditional visitor centers by emphasizing the specific attributes of Red Rock Canyon itself, in lieu of pseudonatural imitations. The concept here is to introduce the visitor to the relevant science, art and culture that will enhance their experience in Red Rock Canyon; and then strongly encourage them to visit the real thing nearby. Many resourceconserving ideas are incorporated into the Visitor Center, including the first institutional use of transpired solar collectors, but by far the largest savings came from re-thinking the design program and relocating exhibits from air conditioned interior space to fully day lighted passive/active tempered micro climates. The Red Rock Canyon Visitor Center is LEED Gold certified.
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1. Welcoming visitors into Red Rock Canyon Conservation Area, the Contact Station is designed to blend into its surroundings through the use of natural and durable materials such as masonry, steel, and glass. 2-3. Integral to the architecture, 47,000 sq. ft. of outdoor interpretive exhibits are designed as abstractions of the surrounding Red Rock Canyon geology. Exhibits include desert tortoise burrows, plant habitats and interpretation on Earth, air, fire and water, the forces that shape the geology of Red Rock Canyon. 4. As occupants enter the building they are welcomed by a 80 foot panoramic view of the surrounding Calico Hills.
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Mojave Discovery Center
Red Rock Canyon Conservation Area, Nevada Construction documents complete - project is unbuilt
Designed to achieve LEED Gold certification the Red Rock Canyon Mojave Discovery Center is dedicated to instilling stewardship by increasing knowledge and understanding of the Mojave Desert ecosystems through a unique experiential discovery program. To emphasize the mission of teaching children respect of the desert environment, design elements of the new building are integrated and expressed to demonstrate that land and life ethic are not separable. The facility is designed to provide an immersive, handson experience where 5th graders from the local school district partake in interactive lessons and experiments designed to foster a lasting relationship with the environment. The building will stand as a physical example of how to exist and conserve in the desert by extending usable outdoor space, providing ample shade, harvesting rainwater, generating its own energy, and using natural and durable materials. 1. Growing from the hillside like the rock formations that surround it, the new Mojave Discovery Center uses the topography of the site to its advantage. The form of the building opens to views of the Calico Hills, provides an optimum slope for the photovoltaic placement, and is ideal for demonstrating passive energy concepts such as stack ventilation.
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2. The transparency of the building is enhanced by using glass walls along the north and south of the building. Sliding glass doors on the education rooms dissolve the separation of inside and outside nearly doubling the usable space of the building and providing areas where students can interact directly with the environment around them. 3. Looking north from the education room, there is a clear connection with the Calico Hills beyond. Floor to ceiling glass along the north and south provide ample daylighting and ventilation for those learning inside. 4. The east portion of the building cantilevers above the desert floor on structural concrete fin walls. By touching the ground lightly on these fin walls, the ground below the building is preserved. The walls also filter out the harsh summer morning and evening sun.
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San Diego National Wildlife Refuge Complex Chula Vista, California 2011
Located in Sweetwater Marsh, south of San Diego, the new LEED Gold National Wildlife Refuge Complex serves as a “portal” to the site, inviting exploration of the Refuge’s trails and allowing for observation of wildlife, environmental education, and interpretive activities. The Sweetwater Marsh is one of the last remaining salt marsh habitats on the west coast and provides an ideal habitat for many endangered species including the California Clapper Rail and California Least Tern. The goal of mitigating bird strikes on windows directly influenced the architecture in the form of downward-angled glass so panes reflect ground rather than sky. So far no bird strikes have been reported. The building provides both open areas for collaboration and office spaces for individual work and analysis within the marsh habitat. With a very light, open design, the new building blends into the landscape and takes advantage of the nearly ideal weather conditions by employing natural ventilation, daylighting, and blurring the distinction between inside and out. Building design and specification of systems is highly influenced by site forces and the goal of resource conservation, and includes a 30 kW photovoltaic array, proper solar orientation, angled glass windows to mitigate bird strikes, active and passive heating and cooling techniques, and water harvesting. 1. Arriving at the entry plaza visitors move through an interpretive “portal” to the Refuge’s trails. Bisecting the facility, the portal separates public use areas from the private offices of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. 2. Used for presentations, environmental education, and public outreach, the resource room provides learning space for up to 35 school children and allows them to experience what it is like to be a biologist. Downward-angled mitigates bird strikes.
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Cascading Residences Tianqin Bay, China 2010
Here we present three different Cascading Residences in Tianquin Bay, China. It can be said that a villa whose design is inspired by its surroundings, while at the same time meeting the myriad requirements of its occupants, is organic. That is, the place becomes part of its place in a natural way. Sky, sea, and mountain influence the architecture above Dapeng Bay. Landforms layered in the distance lighten in color until they blend with the sky; geology transformed by wind and water from rugged peaks to the inviting curves we see everywhere guide the design of the Cascading Villas. Each Villa is integrated into the steep topography to reduce impact on the view for those who reside above and to create a pedestrian scale along the roads and foot paths that wind through the community. Rather than molding the land, our designs connect to the land through extension of supporting stone walls to meet existing grades. It is this sense of extension of structure which makes the villas seem as if they grow from the land. Large expanses of glass protected from the sun by long overhangs and projecting stone walls provide wonderful views and connect the owner strongly to nature.
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1. Residence Type 3 - A bamboo garden partially screens the elliptical concrete wall of this villa creating an entry sequence of surprise and discovery. 2. Residence Type 2 - Within the villas, gardens follow pathways so that the outside is brought inside as the owner moves between levels. 3. Residence Type 2 - Each villa is integrated into the steep topography to reduce impact on the view for those who reside above.
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4. Residence Type 3 - Interiors are crisp and modern and use floor to ceiling glass to blur the distinction between inside and outside. The curving fieldstone walls compliment the other major wall finishes, concrete, and glass, through the juxtaposition of warmth and its organic nature. 5. Residence Type 1 - Street level elevations are kept at a friendly pedestrian scale by building down along the steep topography instead of up above it. The photo on the opposite page shows the rear elevation of the same residence.
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The Two Xiamen, China 2011
The Two is one of the first buildings constructed in the Jimei New City district of Xiamen, China. The site is dominated on all sides by new construction, noise and visual chaos. The building is designed with maximum flexibility in mind because once development of the surrounding residential and commercial areas is complete the building will transition from the developers sales office into a Community Arts Center. An entry through a garden removes one from the hustle of the city. Six-meter tall asymptotic curved walls of honed black basalt draw visitors in while screening undesirable views of adjacent buildings and construction. These walls create a sense of compression toward the entry, before releasing visitors into the open interior space. A large central garden surrounded by curved glass walls brings in daylight, provides a connection to nature and strengthens the facilities inward viewfocus. The garden is also designed as a cool air generator, drawing in air through operable louvers for natural ventilation. A continuous clerestory that brings daylight to the perimeter of the building integrates louvers to exhaust the heated air that rises to the top of the building.
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1. Six-meter tall walls of honed black basalt screen out undesirable views and create a sense of compression before releasing visitors into the open interior space. 2. Radially splayed wood lattices overhead define the sales office discussion spaces. The open plan of the building is designed for flexibility to accommodate future art exhibits.
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3. Comfortable seating with honed black granite tables and a stainless steel mesh partition define the VIP Areas. 4. A central garden provides a connection to the outdoors. Once the sales office is transformed into a Community Arts Center this space will serve as a sculpture garden.
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Wujiatang Community Center Kunming, China Under construction - scheduled to be complete 2013
The Wujiatang Community Center is a multigenerational, multipurpose ecological community center that demonstrates sound environmental design. Its seamless integration into a wetland garden connects it to an adjacent natural wetland that serves the public as an educational park and botanical garden. Residents within the neighborhood will use the Center for a broad range of activities that will unite the community while allowing individuals to enhance and improve their lifestyle. Recreation, fitness, and wellness spaces are integrated with educational and entertainment functions creating dynamic interactions and connectivity. Visibility through different activity areas create an openness throughout that remind users of all that the center has to offer and connects unrelated activities in an interesting way. Entertainment for the entire family is addressed by a diverse array of spaces such as a movie theater, a performance stage, a children’s area, a teen lounge, a wine tasting bar, a cigar bar, private game rooms, and exclusive banquet rooms supported by a full commercial kitchen.
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In addition to the recreation, fitness, and wellness functions the Center promotes learning and education for all ages through a unique environmental education classroom that opens to the adjacent marsh for hands on experimentation. A natural history classroom, a ceramics studio, a painting studio, several music practice rooms, and a regional culture/ art gallery are also part of the program. 1. A large roof overhang shades the entry and outdoor seating areas, providing and inviting and comfortable space for residents. A slot window along the entry plaza serves as an interior/exterior exhibit for local art, culture and history. 2. The Center engages the adjacent wetland offering outstanding views and interpretive opportunities for all ages. Part of the environmental education program, a partially submerged patio gives visitors a chance to learn within the wetland. 3. Private banquet rooms feature patios overlooking the wetland and can be used by residents and local community organizations for meetings, dining and other gatherings.
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National Museum of Afghanistan Kabul, Afghanistan 2012 Competition entry - project is unbuilt
The design of the new National Museum of Afghanistan takes inspiration from the basin and range geology of Kabul and its surroundings, including amazing historical finds such as the excavation of the Stupah of Takht-i-Rustam. The organic architecture of the new Museum grows from the earth and offers an archaeological sense of discovery, mystery and surprise, celebrating the incredible treasures housed within. They are not familiar Western forms ignoring Afghanistan’s long past, but something new derived from Afghan soil, specifically representing the tribal nature of the culture and the comfort and security of a traditional mosque. As visitors enter the site they descend five meters into an “excavation” which features interpretation on Afghanistan’s interesting and complex timeline of history. At the end of the decent visitors cross an enclosed, transparent bridge over the visible archaeological “excavation” into the Museum. Within the museum building, circulation organized as a loop around a central contemplation garden – a calm and peaceful outdoor gathering area with fruit trees and a water element. Natural daylight from this garden floods into the building and highlights the dramatic conical shaped forms of the galleries as they penetrate the roof. Within the galleries, visitors can choose to take a path to view the first five to ten meters of exhibits dedicated to period-specific introductions or venture further inside to completely immerse themselves in the interpretive experience and treasures of individual eras of Afghanistan’s past.
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1. The visitor approach to the Museum starts with a descent into the earth along a timeline highlighting specific events of the past. 2. An underground Arrival Building orients and directs visitors across a bridge over a visible “excavation” to the Museum. 3. The museum is organized as a loop around a central contemplation garden – a calm and peaceful outdoor gathering area with fruit trees and a water element. 4. Natural light from above is evenly distributed within the conical shape of each gallery.
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Cesar Chavez Regional Library Phoenix, Arizona 2007
Located adjacent to an existing lake in a public park, the Cesar Chavez Library is designed to serve as the “living room” for the adjacent, densely-packed neighborhoods. Along with LEED Silver certification the Library was awarded a 2008 “Top Ten Green” designation by the American Institute of Architect’s national Committee on the Environment, incorporates many of the important environmental concepts seen in other Line and Space projects including extensive water harvesting (utilizing the lake as storage), creating tempered micro-climates with recycled exhaust air and providing thermal and visual transition between the extremes of the outside climate and interior air conditioned space. The project was also recently honored as an inaugural New Landmark Library from a nationwide search by the premier publication Library Journal. 1-2. A special part of the program, the 5,000 sf children’s space includes stack and reading areas, a flexible story room, interactive furnishings and integrated activities serving toddler through juveniles.
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3. The thermal mass of the earth berm, piled more than 8’ high against the wall, coupled with the windowless masonry mitigates direct solar heat gain as well as overall conductive loads. Additionally, the berm acts as a noise barrier against nearby traffic.
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Line and Space, LLC 627 East Speedway Boulevard Tucson, Arizona 85705 P: (520) 623-1313 F: (520) 623-1303 www.lineandspace.com
Tucson, Arizona | Hana, Maui | Beijing, China