keynote features - this design and it’s available process can afford lower initial construction cost and time per building classification, lower construction waste, lower maintenance cost, lower energy consumption, greater floor area efficiency, lower overall footprint and site disturbance, and can be predominantly US-sourced in it’s materials.

awards - 2013 Western Mountain Region AIA - http://aiawmr.org/awards/design-awards/, 2013 AIA Colorado South - http://www.aiacolorado.org/awards/AIAColoradoSouthAwards/Archive.aspx, 2014 Re-Thinking the Future International Design and Sustainability Award http://www.re-thinkingthefuture.org/portfolio/billboard-house-markharris-architects/, and the 2015 Architecture Podium International Architecture Awards http://www.architecturepodium.org

narrative:

Situated on a long and narrow ‘aircraft carrier’ site, the building straddles the hillside of a local wash in the Tucson Valley of Arizona.  Composed to two bridge structures, the building literally steps lightly upon the site by cantilevering the bridge structures upon pylons and a minimal concrete base.  A steel canopy holds an array of photovoltaics while shading a majority of the building.

Borrowing it’s construction delivery techniques from industrial and automotive design, the project’s major elements are designed as a series of components that are manufactured under rigorous factory conditions and assembled on-site.