Design Value to Client and Other Designers
Our budget for the 21 acre project for landscape architecture was 5 million including demolition and utilities. Using this very modest per acre budget we created new student malls, courtyards and gardens while transforming storm water problems into an underlying concept for the entire project site design uniquely suited for our region. Some might say ‘why is storm water important when you get rain so infrequently?’ Our response is that it is even more important because the path of ephemeral water in the desert — the arroyo — is the sustaining life force of the desert and urban dwellers that call it their home. Economically the value for our client ASU is that we wisely stretched their dollars for maximum impact. Since the project was completed enrollment at the campus has increased by 20 percent as more students seek out this desert learning oasis.
Rich Stanley, Senior Vice President & University Planner for ASU said “The landscape design and the new buildings have transformed a campus that struggled to escape its image as a former air force base into a place recognized as great emerging university campus that is as attractive and innovative as the polytechnic innovation programs offered. The combination of the environment and the programs have allowed substantial enrollment growth and the initiation of a new student residential program. The Polytechnic landscape theme is now referenced as a goal for some of our new projects. The campus planning at Lake Havasu City and in downtown Chandler have both used the Polytechnic Campus to help guide the landscape plans.”