Phoenix, Arizona, USA
Phoenix-based Jones Studio and Moore Ruble Yudell Architects & Planners, have completed a new 110,000-square-foot F. Francis and Dionne Najafi Thunderbird Global Headquarters for the Thunderbird School of Global Management offering a new model for uniting the global and the local in a new, high-tech incubator for business and leadership education.
The project has been awarded an Honorable Mention at the 2023 American Architecture Awards from The Chicago Athenaeum and The European Centre for Architecture Art Design and Urban Studies.
Encircling the 2,800-square-foot Digital Global Forum is a stadium-style seamless LED ring, which can support up to twelve video conferencing windows simultaneously.
In the center, an LED video sphere plays dynamic video content as it raises and lowers via an electric hoist, beckoning visitors inside.
In total, over 1,300 square feet of digital displays animate the forum.
“This space—and the building as a whole—draws on the bright opportunities of technology, bringing people together globally from Thunderbird’s 15 international satellite centers in an immersive way, like a global situation room,” explains Buzz Yudell, partner at Moore Ruble Yudell.
“The space is an invitation. It’s a welcoming, accessible place where everybody of every background feels they can belong.”
The building is anticipated to achieve LEED Gold certification thanks in part to a rainwater collection and reuse system that reduces outdoor water needs by 50 percent and indoor use by 40 percent compared to a baseline building.
The design team employed parametric modeling to optimize energy use, shading, and occupant comfort, a must for a hot, dry climate like Phoenix.
The project represents a major milestone for the Thunderbird School, which was founded in 1946 at Thunderbird Field, a military airfield in Glendale, Arizona.
Project: Thunderbird School of Global Management at Arizona State University
Architect of Record: Jones Studio Inc.
Co-Design Architect: Moore Ruble Yudell Architects & Planners
General Contractor: Okland Construction Company
Client: Thunderbird School of Global Management at Arizona State University
Photographers: Inessa Binenbaum Photography