Project Details
- Project Name
- artHAUS
- Developer/Owner
- artHAUS Projects
- Project Types
- Multifamily
- Size
- 54,110 sq. feet
- Year Completed
- 2016
- Team
- Symmetry Construction, Builder, Builder
- Project Status
- Built
2017 Builder's Choice & Custom Home Design Awards
Multifamily: Grand
A series of crisply articulated three-story townhouses with metal siding contrasted with angular sloped roofs and cantilevered walls face 1st Avenue in Phoenix’s Midtown. These seven units form less than a third of the entire artHAUS complex, designed by Phoenix-based artHAUS Projects, helping to shield ground-level enclosed parking for the 25-unit development.
Three single-story units hide the parking from the rear, with the remaining apartments configured as duplexes atop the garage, where they activate a series of private courtyard spaces. The palette is minimal, with the exterior clad in black and white. The interiors are predominantly white, maximizing natural sunlight throughout. Each unit has dedicated exterior spaces that engage the interior through extensive floor-to-ceiling glazing. Native Sonoran Desert landscaping reduces water consumption while helping the complex blend in with its natural Southwestern context.
Designed and developed by the architect, artHAUS is targeted at Phoenix’s growing middle class, with units ranging in size from 560 square feet to 1,900 square feet that are priced from $160,000 to $511,000. Rather than provide typical common amenities like gym and a pool, artHAUS strategically partnered with neighborhood businesses for services that enhance the overall economic activity in the area. The architect-developer worked with the city of Phoenix to create a transit-oriented development without any variances. The project also achieves energy efficiency 17% higher than required by building code, thanks in part to solar arrays that provide power for all building common areas. The infill project covers 75% of the lot, achieving a density of 33.3 units per acre with 1.5 cars per unit—a low number for auto-oriented Phoenix. — E.K.
“I like the simplicity of the reduced materials palette, and the ‘stillness’ that decision conveys. It’s well-resolved and elegant.” - Juror Sebastian Schmaling
Click here for all of the 2017 Builder's Choice/Custom Home Design Award winners.
Project Description
From the architects. artHAUS is an intimate collection of 25 smartly designed urban dwellings located in Midtown Phoenix. Its architectural character consists of simple yet bold forms organized around inter-connected resident courtyards. Dwellings consist of seven three-story townhomes, fifteen two-story lofts and three single-story flats ranging in size from 560 to 1900sf. Each dwelling offers indoor/outdoor living sensibilities with private outdoor balconies and light-filled interior spaces shaped by clean lines and floor to ceiling glazing. Great architecture in a great location at an attainable price. With so many developers attempting to enter the market as “upscale,” artHAUS caters to downtown’s growing middle-class. Homes range from $160-$511K across 25 units, creating a wide range of new-build product in walking distance to the areas arts and culture amenities including the Arizona Opera, Phoenix Art Museum, light rail, Heard Museum, Hance Park, Arizona State University, and much more. The project is designed and developed by the architect. The infill land parcel of 25,751 square feet was purchased under a negotiated development agreement from the City of Phoenix and Phoenix Industrial Development Authority in April 2013. Upon control of the land, the architect/developer worked with City Planners to rezone the property with a Transit Oriented Development overlay allowing greater density and lot coverage with zero variances. The development team received unanimous City and Neighborhood approval by creating a win-win-win for everyone involved. The end-result is a model for how granular in-fill projects, when properly executed, strengthen an area’s “Sense of Place” by filling the void and connecting what exists. The principal challenge with the artHAUS development was obtaining construction financing. Even today, nearly 3 years after the project was first conceived the availability of new construction financing for for-sale residential developments is few and far between. To overcome the challenge, we used a combination of equity and more expensive full recourse private capital.
