B.O.B. is a multi-tenant office building in the Downtown core of Bentonville. The anchor tenant is also the owner and developer for the building and expressed a desire to maximize the property available in a responsible way. Situated with primary frontage along NW A Street, the property is flanked by a school to the west and the historic Bentonville water tower located just off the SW corner of the property.
Bob’s primary forms are a combination of simple masonry vessels wrapped in folded planes of natural zinc. The space between these primary materials is typically glass and further accentuates the separation of the two principal forms. Fenestration is responsive to the solar orientation of each facade. East and west facing windows are recessed deeply into the wall and protected along the southern facing edge by vertical aluminum fins. North windows project out from the building taking advantage of the absence of direct sunlight and subsequent heat gain. The glazing is skinned tight to the outer edge of the projected steel box frame. Southern apertures are protected with traditional horizontal shading devices detailed in a similar fashion to the east and west facing fins. The interior office space is organized around a central communal space adjacent to the galley kitchen and opens to the south with views to the plaza below. Devised as the heart of the interior workspace, the volume connects two levels of open office environment and provides controlled access to the two levels above and the two levels below. An emphasis was placed on creating meaningful exterior rooms that either serve as an extension of the interior workspace, or better yet, serve as a reprieve from the work environment.
A response to the historic Bentonville water tower creates a chasm of exterior space that results in a public plaza bridging the gap from ‘street’ to ‘park’. The street-facing east facade is somewhat traditional in nature and is populated with simple masonry forms, repetitive punched openings, and a language that speaks to the existing fabric of the historic downtown core. Movement from this traditional streetscape of storefronts, through the alley that splits north from south and into the public plaza is an intentional transition from rigid to playful…
stern to lively… business in the front, party in the back…
The terminus of this experience is the water tower that is being planned as a future city park occupying the base and surrounding area of the tower.
