TAP Architecture

We happened to snap a pic of greenstar Recycling behind our building just last week and then today were proud to receive feedback from them regarding our paper recycling efforts in November 2011. One ton of recycled paper saves 17 trees. We saved 10.6350 trees. That should offset the equal number of trees our Marketing Department sacrificed in its successful pursuit of new business during 2011.

TAP ARCHITECTURE is honored to have received American Institute of Architects highest design award: Honor Award of Excellence for Homeless Alliance WestTown Campus.

The project miraculously transfomed two metal light industrial buildings into a sparkling, colorful, and respectful campus of care for homeless and near homeless in Oklahoma City.

Our thanks to AIA Oklahoma for the award and to Homeless Alliance for entrusting TAP with this very special project.

Over ten years ago SignTec installed TAP ARCHITECTURE’S iconic, brilliantly colored LED sign on the facade of our circa 1930′s building in downtown Oklahoma City. The sign’s innovative design and lighting established a tradition for all of Automobile Alley as neon signage and spectacular Christmas lights have become an urban tradition on historic Broadway Avenue.

After flawlessly lighting our world for all these years, our lovely TAP ARCHITECTURE sign has undergone “nips and tucks” to smooth away the signs of age and was rehung today. The TAP sign is even more spectacular thanks to new lighting and controls courtesy of our friends at Smith Lighting.

TAP has done it! We gave coolgreens‘ owners exactly what they asked for: a NEW AND EVEN COOLER prototype. The new design is sparkling in its first location in the City Place Tower at 204 N Robinson in downtown Oklahoma City.

Two new locations , Edmond, OK and Norman, OK, are under construction. The “new look” offers sparkling bright colors and sophisticated finishes for downtowners seeking a healthy lunch or dinner alternative.

TAP ARCHITECTURE designs hospitality projects you are sure to know. TAP here to see our Hospitality Portfolio.

Automobile Alley Board of Directors wants to soften the look of the historic district’s Broadway Avenue and improve safety of the confusing and dangerous “intersection” of Dean McGee, Broadway Avenue and E.K. Gaylord. The Alley’s proposed plans, supported by engineering traffic studies, have received lukewarm reception from City of Oklahoma City officials…especially the concept of reverse-angle parking.

TAP ARCHITECTURE’S Principal Architect Anthony McDermid, President of the Board of Automobile Alley, defends angle parking as an opportunity to increase on street parking and soften traffic. But BACKWARD parking?!?!??! Maybe it’s not such a crazy new urban design idea after all…based on this 1920′s postcard rendering of Broadway Avenue.

Read more about it in Oklahoma Gazette September 21 article, “Back it up.”

Intermodal Transportation Hub Site Has Heen Selected

Oklahoma City Council has selected Santa Fe Depot as the site for a new intermodal transportaion hub. TAP ARCHITECTURE joined with Jacobs Engineering in their site selection process which identified three potential sites. The Santa Fe site won hands down. TAP’s conceptual design for Santa Fe Station (above) was incorporated into Jacob’s recommendations to the Council.

Read more about it in Oklahoma Gazette September 21 article.

Homeless Alliance of Oklahoma City has opened WestTown Resource Center and Day Shelter. Located at NW 3rd and Virginia in Oklahoma City, The Resource Center provides a “one-stop-shop” for homeless population with multiple social service agencies located under one roof. The Day Shelter, adjacent to the Resource Center, offers a place of refuge for homeless and near homeless to eat, rest, shower, read and search for employment. The shelter feeds 250+ guests each day.

Kenneth B. Dennis, AIA, LEED AP, lead TAP‘s design team to create an inviting and safe environment where families and individuals facing homelessness can acquire the support necessary to transform their lives. TAP has a long time commitment to serving the homeless in our community and is gratified to be part of Homeless Alliance’s monumental step toward providing hope to our urban neighbors.

Conceptual View Core to Shore Park 2007

Anthony McDermid, TAP Prinicpal and one of the team leaders for the original Core-to-Shore master framework, has expressed concerns about the site for the new Convention Center which is to be funded with MAPS 3 tax proceeds. As a member of the MAPS 3 Parks Subcommittee, McDermid is eager to preserve a core mission of the Core-to-Shore plan: accessibility and walkability for the public whose tax dollars are funding approximately $800,000,000 of public improvements.

Walkability was a priority of the 30+ members of the original Core-to-Shore Steering Committee, which met many times over the course of a year and represented a wide cross section of stakeholders in our community. Their time was valuable and their opinion was a result of careful consensus. McDermid supports priorities established by the committee and feels those priorities should be carefully considered as Core-to-Shore projects are implemented with MAPS 3 revenues.

Read more in a September 1 Oklahoma Gazette article.

On September 1 Reverend Tom Jones, CEO of City Rescue Mission, announced the organization’s newest project: a Men’s Shelter. The project was unveiled at a banquet marking beginning of the Mission’s annual Mission of Hope appeal. The event raises half of the year-long operating budget between September 1 and December 31.

TAP Architecture, honored to continue its long time relationship with City Rescue Mission, is designing the Men’s Shelter to provide secure additional capacity for the Mission’s guests. City Rescue Mission is a faith-based, private, nonprofit organization providing solution-based ministry to homeless men, women and children in the Oklahoma City metro.

Whatever Happened to That?

Twelve Twelve North Walker is alive and well! Demo is done, walls are up and fabulous apartments/retail are just around the corner. Thanks to MidTown Renaissance for allowing TAP ARCHITECTURE the opportunity to design a new life for an underutilized building in one of the most vibrant urban areas of the city. TAP designers on the job are Anthony McDermid, AIA, RIBA and Kenneth B. Dennis, AIA, LEED AP. And thanks to OKC BIZ for letting everyone know about it! Click here to read the OKC BIZ article Whatever Happened to That?