The following is from Ned Sawyer, a former resident of Case Study Apartments No. 1 designed by Al Beadle in Phoenix. The Triad was one of the only Arts and Architecture Case Study program projects built in Arizona.
“I had the pleasure of working with Alfred N. Beadle Architect for over ten years and that experience has definitely influenced my architecture. The Triad was designed and built by Al as housing for his wife’s parents along with two rental units. One unit was occupied by the Herman Miller furniture rep and the other by a Beadle employee. The original Case Study project was to be developed in Redlands CA and I worked on those drawings, but he developer chose not to proceed. Arts & Architecture had already announced the project and as a result they asked Al to use existing photographs and drawings of the Triad for the
publication of Case Study Apartments No. 1. For a while we used one of the units as our office while Al was building the Boardwalk Apartments. Like the Triad it was designed with patios off a central common space, but with 34 units. The design of both projects encouraged social
interchange and a sense of community. The Boardwalk has just recently been named to the National Historical Register.
As a wedding present Al gave my wife Bev and I three months
free rent, which was helpful since I was still in school at the College of Architecture at ASU. He had a motive up his sleeve though and when the three months were up he told us we could start paying rent or manage the complex, which of course we did. After several years Al sold the Boardwalk and also put the Triad up for sale. My wife and I along with two
other couples bought the Triad and lived there until our families started to expand and we all decided to sell.
Entering College I had noticed the Triad and it was one of my favorite architectural projects in Phoenix. Little did I know that I would shortly start working with Al and later come to own and live there as well. The environment was perfect for the Arizona climate. The shaded central courtyard created protection from the harsh summer sun and
allowed for comfortable outdoor living. Living in the Triad and Boardwalk was living in art and that was the idea behind “Arts & Architecture” and the Case Study program. Bev and I have remained friends with Al’s widow Nancy and their children, and are in contact regularly.”
