hassayampa academic village at arizona state university, tempe, ariz.

campus housing / grand

machado and silvetti associates + gould evans, llc, boston

The judges loved the shocks of color that distinguish the three courtyards at this campus housing complex in Tempe, Ariz. The Arizona State University project, known as Hassayampa Academic Village, provides accommodations for 1,928 students, as well as classrooms, computer labs, dining facilities, and retail space.

Architectural firms Machado and Silvetti Associates and Gould Evans, LLC divided the program into a series of five main buildings. The structures are connected by bright-walled courtyards, each one painted a different shade to assert its own identity. “The surprise is that you have this masonry exterior and inside you have these bursts of color that define the space,” said a judge.

The architects enlivened that masonry façade by introducing unexpected shifts in window and concrete masonry unit patterns. “We were trying to be mindful of the budget, so we decided to use very simple and conventional materials in unanticipated ways,” says Derek Johnson, LEED AP, of Machado and Silvetti. Environmental concerns were addressed through strategies such as native landscaping, passive cooling, low-flow fixtures, and ample daylighting. “The desert has an abundance of light, and we wanted to take advantage of that,” says Gould Evans' Krista Shepherd, NCARB, LEED AP.

principals in charge: Rodolfo Machado, Machado and Silvetti Associates, and David Evans, AIA, Gould Evans, LLC
project architects: Krista Shepherd, NCARB, LEED AP, and Tom Chinnock, Gould Evans, LLC, and Peter Lofgren, AIA, Machado and Silvetti Associates
project designers: Michael Yusem, Derek Johnson, LEED AP, and Michael LeBlanc, Machado and Silvetti Associates, and Jose Pombo, Gould Evans, LLC
owner: Arizona Capital Facilities Finance Corp., Tempe
manager / operator: E.L. Cortez, Arizona State University, Tempe
general contractors: Jim Jacobs, Marshall Witzig, and Mark Murphy, CORE Construction, Phoenix
landscape architects: Michael Boucher, ASLA, and Jeff Pelletier, Michael Boucher Landscape Architecture, Freeport, Maine
project size: 585,000 square feet
site size: 7.1 acres
construction cost: $130 per square foot (residential component only), $160 per square foot total
units in project: 480
photography:Anton Grassl/Esto