We were approached by the owner of the Scottsdale, Arizona theme park, Rawhide, to help with the transformation of the park into a new urban center that would be a better fit with development now encroaching the site.
To create a dynamic site and keeping with our client's wishes, we focused activity and used the natural market forces of suburban development to our advantage in creating place. Commercial offices gravitated to the major arterial frontages with a small active retail core at the center anchored by an institute, performing arts center, and small hotel at the east end of a retail main street.
The project needed to provide a flood way through the site. This element was used to create the major amenity to the central part of the project, a sunken recreation belt. This corridor of activity provided the moat and buffer between the more active commercial and urban loft living and the quieter residences and hotel with mountain views. The recreation area is separated into two sections. The first section is a sunken garden filled with turf and local vegetation, while the second section is a sports center with basketball courts, tennis courts and soccer fields.
The southernmost part of the property uses the drainage to include an equestrian facility to keep the site rooted in its western heritage.
