Menlo Park

A historic bungalow in Tucson, Arizona’s Menlo Park needed to be seen from the street, but screened from a new commercial development. Opuntia ficus indica, a historically significant barrio plant, was saved and used as a streetside entry point to the property.

Throughout the project, remnant plasma cut steel panels were up-cycled into a series of trellises used to screen the adjacent commercial development, soften and cool a crash proof wall, serve as a backsplash to a movable outdoor kitchen, and screen the HVAC. Vines were planted to create a green screen.

The newly build ramada serves as an outdoor room providing shade from the sun and shelter from the monsoons. An eclectic rain chain and catchment system serves as a functional work of art. Water is directed away from the structure and out towards plants.

Two steel garden plots provide just enough gardening space for novice gardeners. The plots themselves contrast beautifully with almost any edible. Each one is carefully welded by hand.

Metal Construction by Sweeds Fabrication.

*Photo Credit 24-27 Traci Miller