TAP Architecture

Located at the hub of entertainment and social life, the Aloft Oklahoma City Downtown-Bricktown Hotel will be an invigorating addition to downtown. TAP ARCHITECTURE’s urban design is inherently modern and enhances the urban social atmosphere for its guests.

James R. Thompson II, Vice President of New Century Investments, is excited about Oklahoma City’s inclusion as host city for the Aloft brand. “We look forward to introducing Starwood’s upscale and affordable Aloft brand to Oklahoma City.” “We expect Aloft Oklahoma City Downtown-Bricktown to appeal to both sophisticated travelers and area professionals with its eclectic and electric experience, lively re:mix sm lounge and wxyz sm bar.”

Senior Vice President of Specialty Select Brands for Starwood Brian McGuinness adds, “Aloft Oklahoma City Downtown-Bricktown will deliver a compelling blend of urban style and social interplay to downtown Oklahoma City.” “With its bold design and lively social atmosphere, Aloft caters to the next generation of travelers who expect their lodging to facilitate their constantly evolving lifestyle.” The hotel is scheduled to open in 2013.

See more: http://blog.newsok.com/okccentral/2011/02/16/new-aloft-hotel-renderings/

TAP ARCHITECTURE has a dream client: an innovative marketing and branding firm willing to explore creative possibilities for the renovation of their new downtown Oklahoma City offices. TAP, focused by Visual Image’s razor sharp contemporary ideas, created an ideal laboratory for the alchemy within: a space reflecting the mind, body and soul of Visual Image Marketing and Branding. The design has been honored with the Interiors Citation Award from the Central Oklahoma Chapter of the American Institute of Architects.

“The collaborative effort between TAP and Visual Image yielded a stunning minimalist design. The firms blended their creative strengths to achieve a balance of form and function. The result was a bright, modern space that continually inspires the Visual Image team.”

-Steven Schwartz, Vice President, Director of Operations

In 2005 AIA Central Oklahoma (AIACO) launched an International Bus Stop Design Competition. The competition was a huge success with over 80 entries from 8 different countries. AIACO will present an Apple iPad in a raffle drawing at 6:30p. The money raised in the raffle will take fundraising over the $20,000 goal necessary to build the winning entry in the competition.

The new bus shelter has two purposes: 1. To encourage business commuters to utilize Metro Transit as an alternative means of transportation, and; 2. To raise community awareness of the positive impact design can have on even the most humble structures.

AIA Central Oklahoma hopes the new shelter, proposed to be located at the intersection of Lahoma and Main in Norman, will be the first of many innovative bus stop designs in the Oklahoma City area. Tyler Media, the University of Oklahoma, AIA Central Oklahoma, AIA National and the Oklahoma City Foundation for Architecture have partnered to complete this first shelter.

More information on the AIA Bus Stop project and the raffle can be found at www.aiacoc.org/support or by calling Melissa Hunt at 948-7174.

Live, Work, and Play

“Live Work and Play” serves as a crown jewel in Maywood Park, a new neighborhood in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. The development was designed by TAP ARCHITECTURE of Oklahoma City to offer quality sustainable living in close proximity to the central business and entertainment districts. Maywood Park “reinvents” lifestyle amidst a variety of urban residential offerings, burgeoning retail development and green spaces.

Triangle Development Partnership, L.L.C. was awarded Oklahoma City Arts Commission’s 2009 Curtis A. Schwartz Cityscape Award for this monumental piece of public art. The sculpture was designed, crafted and installed by Stan Carroll of Beyond Metal, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.

The Brownstones at Maywood Park, based on a concept formulated by a group of University of Oklahoma architecture students is a community of 127 high-end row homes in downtown Oklahoma City. The partners have made an effort to create a real “Oklahoma product,” not just a duplicate of Dallas or Kansas City. “We have Oklahoma roots,” said Ron Bradshaw of Colony Partners. “We want to continue the heritage and honor of the original developers of Oklahoma City. They had urbanism down.” The Brownstones are a hybrid of history and progressive thinking that is revitalizing the lifestyle opportunities for Oklahoma.

The long tested template of high end urban communities being comprised of row houses, or Brownstones, brings the New York feel to Oklahoma City. The Brownstones at Maywood Park will ultimately comprise more than 120 two-and-a-half to three-and-a-half story units. The Brownstones at Maywood Park in the historic Maywood section of Downtown Oklahoma City are designed and constructed as individual homes. There are no shared stairwells or parking area. Each unit has its own garage and entrance. Instead of sprawling outward in typical suburban style, each individual home is constructed vertically, up to three and a half stories technology in construction, insulating concrete forms (ICF).

In addition to forming an incredibly durable structure, ICF also inhibits the travel sound. It is the choice in LEED certified construction and creates an energy efficient structure. The Brownstones embrace “green” sustainable building technologies, will endure for literally centuries with very low maintenance or upkeep costs. These “legacy” homes can truly be expected to be passed from generation to generation.

The exterior of the units are enveloped by the finest brick in designer colors to highlight the unique design of the townhomes. The Brownstone’s rich components of slate tile, cooper, and wrought iron clad the Brownstone’s unique Build Block ICF concrete substructures, along with the finest masonry brick exteriors. Building with Build Block ICFs saves trees and the enormous reduction in energy use saves our natural resources and reduces the amount of carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere.

Build Block ICFs contain no HCFC, formaldehyde, asbestos, or fiberglass, and no harmful CFCs are used in their manufacture. ICFs combine one of the finest insulating materials, Expanded Polystyrene (EPS), with one of the strongest structural building materials, steel reinforced concrete. The result is a wall system of unmatched comfort, energy efficiency, strength and noise reduction.

Al Slattery Masonry, Inc. of Oklahoma City was the Contractor for not only the masonry exterior, but also the ICF in four of the nineteen units in the initial phase. This project was one of the first in the city to use the ICF on a multi-family facility.

-Masonry Construction November/December 2008