Monday, 20th April, 2026––

It’s just before 7 a.m. in a bustling section of central Phoenix. Morning rush-hour traffic whizzes past as a crane lowers the first 3,800-pound precast stone panel into place at one of the entrances to the Phoenix Country Club.

Just 11 more to go.

The panels will undoubtedly buffer the country club's serene grounds from traffic, but more importantly, they are creating an arrival experience that’s rich in story and steeped in Phoenix’s architectural heritage.

The Guild and 180 Design+Build install cast stone panels at Phoenix Country Club

To the unknowing eye, it may look like these panels were designed specifically for the country club’s midcentury modern aesthetic. But their journey actually began at another building approximately nine miles away.

While the panels didn’t travel far geographically, they did accomplish a significant feat in time travel––one that spanned more than six decades.

Tuesday, 5th September, 1961––

From an office in Phoenix, midcentury modern architect Fred Guirey finalizes plans for a series of cast-stone panels for the façade of the Arizona Public Service (APS) administrative building. APS was, and still is, Arizona’s largest and longest-serving energy provider, and Guirey was commissioned to design a building for its administrative staff.

True to Guirey’s midcentury style, the building featured a flat roof, expansive glazing and virtually zero ornamentation––all of that appeared to be reserved for the panels.

Naturally, as Arizona’s utility company, the building had air conditioning (though mechanical cooling was still relatively rare in Phoenix at that time). But floor-to-ceiling glass is no match for the blazing desert sun. So, Guirey designed a brise-soleil system using more than 100 cast-stone panels.

Designed with a custom motif featuring flames and lightning to symbolize the power and light APS supplied to the city, these panels also gave the building its endearing personality.

Sometime in early September, 2021––

Architect James Trahan gets a call from Alison King, an architectural preservationist, professor and founder of Modern Phoenix.

“Alison said, ‘I just heard that the APS headquarters building is pulling all of these midcentury panels off of their building…125 of them,’” James said.

Luckily, the GC on the project recognized the value in the panels and tipped off Alison. But if no one could take them, they’d be sent to the landfill.

James and his team at 180 Degrees Design+Build mobilized.

Tuesday, 5th October, 2021––

The team from 180 Degrees and their fabrication arm, The Guild, arrives at the APS administrative building to begin the dismantling of the façade. Using a crane, a forklift and a flatbed truck, the team hauls away 95 panels.

APS retained a few to incorporate back into their redesign. But the rest were transported across town to one of 180’s commercial projects.

“We were building a behavioral health clinic in Chandler, and our client had bought a dollar store––a very ugly dollar store,” James said. “So, we said, ‘We'd like to re-envision your façade with these panels if we can store the panels at your place for a year while we do your build-out.’”

They got the green light and that gave them time to make arrangements for the remaining panels.

Monday, 9th January, 2023––

The first of the panels is installed at Elite Family Services as a floating façade, giving the otherwise mundane box retail building texture and character while also providing a shaded courtyard area for the children who use the space.

Now, nearly 70,000 pounds lighter, the remaining load is hauled off to one of 180’s storage sites until they can find another fitting project.

Elite Family Services. Photo by 180 Degrees

Friday, 22nd August, 2025––

On a blistering August morning, the team from 180 and The Guild assemble in front of Valentine PHX, a restaurant connected to Modern Manor, a midcentury modern vintage furniture store in Phoenix’s eclectic Melrose District.

Four of Guirey’s panels are going in to frame the outdoor dining patio and help shield it from the morning sun and the traffic on 7th Avenue.

Thursday, 4th September, 2025––

Two weeks later and less than two miles away, four more panels go in at the Original ChopShop restaurant, creating a striking façade.

Tuesday, 14th April, 2026––

At a storage yard in downtown Phoenix, the loud hiss of a pressure washer fills the air. On the other side of the fence, a small but mighty crew of three from The Guild preps another set of panels for installation. One at a time, the panels are hoisted in the air by forklift to be pressure washed and stripped of their old metal fittings. Next, they’re washed with another solution to restore their original color, then stacked once more on wood beams, ready for their next home.

That next home is the Phoenix Country Club, where the panels will arrive in less than a week.

This sequence illustrates the work required to reuse materials in a linear economy. But it also shows the powerful ripple effect a single material or architectural component can create.

Yes, there are barriers and risks––real and perceived––at nearly every turn. Transportation, storage, restoration and labor all take time and money. But reuse can be done. Sometimes it just requires a little creativity and ingenuity.

And, perhaps that upfront effort will pale in comparison to the impact it can have. Not just on the environment, but consider how many more lives these Guirey panels are touching now that they’ve been given a second life. They’re connecting generations, preserving a bit of the Valley’s architectural history and Guirey’s legacy and perhaps sparking younger generations’ curiosity about their story.

“It was a huge risk to take a chance on this because we knew it was going to cost a fortune, but we thought they were in such good shape and felt confident that we could repurpose them and ultimately make our money back,” James said. “To date, we are finally in the positive. So financially, it's paid off really well. And to keep putting these panels all over town is probably more rewarding than the money. Everyone that sees them really loves that we took the effort to save them.”

Interesting bits...

Each panel measures approximately 4 feet by 15.5 feet, is 5 inches thick and weighs approximately 3,800 lbs.
More than 75% of what the construction industry generates as waste has a residual value. It could be recycled, salvaged or reused, but it’s often not.
Some research shows there could be some other ancillary benefits of embracing the challenges of reuse. This type of team problem solving raises the collective intelligence, facilitates relationship building and even enhances emotional intelligence.

Lesson: Just remember, "Every wall panel is a door." — Ralph Waldo Emerson. And just for good measure, this gem by Stephen Covey: “Effective people are not problem-minded; they're opportunity-minded. They feed opportunities and starve problems.”