People are realizing this is an asset that brings people to Flagstaff. 
Projects range from the Flagstaff Aquaplex to the Taylor House to the law enforcement complex on Sawmill Road and many facilities at Lowell Observatory, including the Kemper and Ethel Marley Foundation Astronomy Discovery Center, currently under construction.
“We’ve been in business in Flagstaff since the mid-‘80s and have been working with the dark skies all of our career here. All of us are here partly for that reason,” said JWA Architects partner Tim Whiteside. “To be able to see the Milky Way is fantastic. It’s an asset we don’t want to lose in this community for reasons that go far beyond protecting the observatories. People are realizing this is an asset that brings people to Flagstaff. What we can enjoy from our backyards you cannot find in so many other cities.”
Whiteside is the lead architect on Lowell Observatory’s new Astronomy Discovery Center, expected to be completed in 2024. “It’s going to have a whole lot of exhibits about the dark sky and why it’s important to everyone,” said Whiteside. “Visitors will see innovations in dark-sky lighting and will be able to go outside and see creative applications.”
“It’s really been a neat project for us,” said JWA Architects partner Mitch Walzer. “We’re learning so much more about astronomy and the dark skies than we knew before. That’s one of the reasons why I moved up here. Flagstaff is a neat place to live. It’s so nice to be out at night. Last night, after all the rain, the whole sky was just gorgeous. The stars were just perfect,” said Walzer, after a late July monsoon storm.
“A project we did last year at the Giovale Open Deck Observatory [GODO] included glow stones that show the path at night,” said Whiteside. “They take the energy from the sun in the daytime and glow at night. Ginger Giovale was very interested in using glow stones to light the way.”
Lowell Observatory Deputy Director for Education Samantha Gorney directed the spacing of the stones.
Lowell’s Technical Project Manager Dave Sawyer is working closely with JWA Architects on the discovery center project. “They’re able to blend the historic aspects of Lowell with modern technology and functional practicality while maintaining a pleasing aesthetic appearance, in particular, with the outside lighting,” he said. “JWA meets dark-sky requirements, not just with fixtures you buy off the shelf but with cleverly designed lighting that becomes part of the architectural element and also is providing the lighting people need to stay safe.”
A particularly challenging project for the architects involved lighting for the law enforcement complex on Sawmill Road that houses the Flagstaff Police Department as well as the Coconino County Detention Facility.
“We worked closely with the Flagstaff Dark Skies Coalition to design lighting for security and safety, and initiated the idea of dual lighting,” said Whiteside. “We were able to use dark-sky compliant lighting that would allow cameras to see the grounds and for visitors to find their way safely at night. If there’s an incident – someone trying to break out or break in – up come the secondary lights.”
The architects also gave careful consideration to the nearby Rio de Flag area. “We limited the amount of light affecting the wildlife habitat and the neighbors to the south.”
Whiteside says the firm did a similar dual lighting design for the auto mall in east Flagstaff in order to showcase the colors of the cars while the dealerships were open, but to switch to amber lighting when the dealerships closed at night.
For its more than three-decade commitment to Flagstaff and the dark-sky resource, the Flagstaff Dark Skies Coalition honors the architects of Johnson Walzer Associates as Dark Sky Champions. FBN
September kicks off six weeks of free public activities, including telescope viewing, concerts, art exhibits, presentations, performances and constellation tours during Celebration of the Night and the Flagstaff Star Party. For more information, visit FlagstaffStarParty.org.
