For immediate release: October 21, 2004

Design Workshop honored with two awards
from Arizona ASLA

TEMPE, ARIZONA — The Tempe office of Design Workshop was honored with two awards at the annual design awards banquet of the Arizona chapter of the American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA) on Saturday, October 9. The awards recognized Design Workshop for its work in creating both Kierland Commons and The Rocks at Pinnacle Peak.

The ASLA gave an Honor Award to Kierland Commons, a 38-acre mixed-use development along Scottsdale Road that serves as the commercial, social and cultural heart of the Kierland master-planned community. The plan for Kierland Commons encompasses a 535,000-square-foot mixed-use program, including a golf museum, retail and restaurants, offices, residential units and a town center park. A combination of design strategies was used to create a traditional walkable downtown with tightly spaced, high-quality retail destinations and on-street parking for immediate access to shops and restaurants. Climate enhancement and a central plaza with grass, palms and pop-jet fountains make Kierland Commons an extraordinary urban shopping environment unique to the Phoenix/ Scottsdale area. The project was honored in 2003 with a Valley Forward award.

The Rocks at Pinnacle Peak, which is nestled in the beautiful Troon Mountains, was honored with a Merit Award. This community design carefully blends residential desert gardens with the natural desert landscape, siting 40 villas in the sensitive Sonoran Desert and using their courtyards to take advantage of the native desert open spaces. A common trail system links the villas, community center and other surrounding desert open spaces, allowing users to explore the area’s hills.

Founded in 1969, Design Workshop practices sustainable design and planning on sites ranging from urban infill, parks and open-space projects to brownfield redevelopment and resorts. The firm, which has offices in North and South America, has received more than 90 awards for design and planning.