Old Main on the University of Arizona Campus
Great landscape architecture ups the ante on what schools have to offer outside the classroom
Campuses are ideal learning laboratories, providing easily accessible educational opportunities for students, faculty, and the surrounding community, and they often take the lead in implementing new technologies.
The ENR2 building constructed on the University of Arizona campus in 2015, has capacity to store 50,000 gallons of rainwater, to be used for irrigation, in underground tanks. The BSRL building (refer to project description, below), currently under construction, includes structural soil underneath the courtyard pavers to provide adequate soil volume for the palo verde trees that will shade the courtyard. The landscape design of Old Main (refer to project description, below) included extensive passive water harvesting to carry stormwater runoff away from the building foundation and allow it to infiltrate into the ground to benefit the plantings.
Image courtesy of ZGF Architects LLP
University of Arizona Bioscience Research Laboratories
With ZGF Architects and BWS Architects
Project experience while employed with Wheat Design Group
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Location: Tucson, Arizona
Year Complete: Under construction
Client: University of Arizona
The Bioscience Research Laboratory (BSRL) is an interdisciplinary facility for collaborative research to advance the understanding (at the molecular level) of human health, aging, and disease. Supporting research and teaching, the new building emphasizes open and collaborative spaces. The lab’s mission inspires the outdoor spaces; vibrant bandings of texture and color expressed through planting and hardscape articulate the DNA landscape theme. A central courtyard provides ample space for social interaction as well as individual study.
Contribution and Deliverables: Project Manager; Salvage/Demo, Planting, Hardscape, and Irrigation Plans (Irrigation sub-consultant Carl Kominsky)
University of Arizona Old Main Rehabilitation
With Poster Frost Mirto
Project experience while employed with Wheat Design Group
a
Location: Tucson, Arizona
Year Complete: 2014
Client: University of Arizona
Old Main is the University of Arizona's original building and an iconic symbol for the campus. Rehabilitated as the public hub of the University, housing the executive offices, admissions, and public meeting spaces, the building has recaptured its former stature. The landscape reflects the campus’s role since inception as a ‘living laboratory’ – numerous plant species are represented, including several heritage trees. Sonoran desert plantings ground the building in its locale. Passive water harvesting supplements irrigation.
Contribution and Deliverables: Project Manager; Salvage/Demo, Planting, Hardscape, and Irrigation Plans (Irrigation sub-consultant Carl Kominsky)