Saint Barnabas on the Desert: Active Shade®

More Welcome Shade Has Arrived at Saint Barnabas on the Desert Episcopal Church

Paradise Valley, Arizona — New meets old at Saint Barnabas on the Desert Episcopal Church.  Oculus Studio designed a new 200-foot pedestrian arcade that extends an existing 1960’s era arcade to a newly renovated Children’s Center.  Families, staff, visitors, and clergy will now have continuous shade as they move between buildings throughout the Paradise Valley campus.  The design challenge was to develop a sympathetic structural form using steel, that would be in harmony with the minimalist precast concrete arcade built generations ago.  The solution was to replicate and continue curved archways in homage to the renaissance period, where perspective was used to stitch disparate activities and landscapes together. For overall continuity the new arcade is painted to match the existing arcade and campus buildings. The new arcade is part of the larger “Welcoming the Neighborhood” project, as Saint Barnabas looks to a vibrant and thriving future being a source of inspiration and light, in the current uncertain times and beyond.

Dedication and positive attitude of the project team members made the difference. The new arcade Arizona-based project team includes Chris Winters and Associates as the Landscape Architect, Oculus Studio as the architect and designer with engineering provided by Cypress Civil, Woodward Engineering, and Caruso Turley Scott. The project construction team included Redden Construction and Resolute Performance Iron, Inc.

About Oculus Studio

Oculus Studio is a Phoenix-based architecture and engineering company specializing in energy efficient and high-performance building design. Oculus Studio created Active Shade®, “Shade that Works™” to offer our clients the ability to install a tangible asset that converts their facilities into welcoming places for people and community, while also creating shade. To learn more, visit our website: www.oculus-studio.com.

About Active Shade®

Active Shade® develops shade canopy projects with a client-centric approach to ensure high satisfaction and long term value. Utilizing a patented design concept, Active Shade® shifts the focus to a value proposition where people-friendly shaded outdoor spaces are funded by operational cost savings from the generation of clean renewable energy. To learn more, visit our webpage: www.active-shade.com.