The Oasis

Located in a historically underserved Chandler neighborhood, The Oasis is a humble yet transformative community center designed to serve youth, families, and seniors. The program includes after-school classrooms, vocational training areas, a commercial kitchen for culinary apprenticeships, a flexible gathering space for 200 people, and amenities that support community events such as outdoor movies and cultural celebrations.

The project reclaims a disused, two-acre site to create a walkable, accessible resource for the surrounding neighborhood. The design prioritizes durability, simplicity, and belonging, balancing pragmatic needs with a broader vision for empowerment. Common regional construction methods—wood framing and metal cladding—are employed with restraint and care. Three distinct metal textures, sourced from reclaimed materials, give the building its layered, tactile character, anchoring it in the cultural and material landscape of the Southwest.

The building’s form is modest and responsive: opening northward to draw in soft daylight while shielding from the desert heat. Interior spaces are intentionally raw and unadorned, leaving room for the life, color, and creativity of the community to define them over time. Exterior restrooms, car storage, and flexible-use areas support evolving programs and user needs.

More than a facility, The Oasis aspires to be a catalyst for change, where young people are inspired to dream, families feel secure, and those on the margins find connection. It is a place shaped by and for the people it serves, made possible through the generosity of donors who share its vision. Future phases will expand outdoor recreation and gardening, further rooting the project in care and community.

The Oasis is a quiet, resilient architecture of service—unassuming in form, powerful in purpose.