Located on a gateway property for Desert Hot Springs, this project seeks to create, within a very narrow L-shaped site, a new, distinctive architectural identity for this fast-growing desert city. The approximately 10,000 sf of retail and 13,000 sf of office space, are configured into three separate buildings. These buildings and the public areas between them are defined architecturally by the use of two elements: the box (exposed concrete block) and the screen (rusted steel pipes). These two elements wrap and unwrap around each other in order to define exterior corridors, to create public and private areas, and to shade windows from consistent sun exposure.