TSG Foundation Center for Spiritual Development

The TSG Foundation Center for Spiritual Development merges science and spirituality in the natural world in ways that serve the site and the soul. A meandering desert driveway welcomes visitors and provides selective glimpses of the TSG Foundation building. Parking areas are organic in shape and well landscaped to screen them from street view, with a stabilized decomposed granite surface to minimize the heat island effect. A pedestrian bridge links the parking areas to the building by crossing a shallow desert wash and giving visitors a time for pause and reflection as they approach or leave the building. Within the building and the grounds, there are multiple areas to pause 11 of 18 and meditate. There are what TSG refers to as “moments of joy”, which are surprises hidden in the architecture, such as hidden zodiac symbology and the TSG 7 principles.

Sited on an 11-acre parcel in the Sonoran Desert, surrounded by the scenic mountains of McDowell Sonoran Preserve, the building is infused with a sense of health and wellness that leverages the natural environment by creating meaningful and useful connections to the outdoors. It is axially rotated on the site to welcome the southern winter sunlight, northern views to the mountains, and opportunities for night-time star viewing. Through the building’s passive and active energy strategies, the Foundation is striving to be a Net Zero Energy and Petal Certified building through the Living Building Challenge.