Tooker House at Arizona State University is a new living/learning community designed to serve freshman engineering students. The seven-story, 458,000-square-foot project includes 1,582 beds for students in semi-suite units, staff apartments, a 525-seat dining hall, a convenience store, numerous dedicated student study and social lounges, and a fitness center. A large maker lab enjoys a prominent and highly visible location on the ground floor of the building, expanding the academic core of the campus and providing residents with space and resources to continue class work and experimental ideas at any time of day. Sliding glass walls allow activities to spill outdoors, where exhibition pedestals enable students to present their work and invite passersby to learn more.
Using the vernacular of desert architecture as its point of departure, SCB created a LEED Gold sustainable building appropriate to its context that could endure, and even leverage, the harsh desert climate of Tempe.
The siting, shape, and massing were developed through extensive shading studies on the constrained campus site. The complex’s figure-eight shape positions the two primary building masses in parallel positions facing east-west, which allows the building to “self-shade” interior courtyards and facades. The southern façade incorporates U-shaped visors and an array of perforated vertical louvers designed and positioned according to a sophisticated algorithm, presenting visual interest and ensuring appropriate daylight control unique to each window’s location on the façade.
The massing also facilitates wind movement through the interior, shaded courtyards, and between the building’s masses. Perforated metal panels on the building’s bridges and breezeways promote airflow through those spaces. Rainwater is harvested from the roof and nourishes select landscape zones in bioswales, reducing the reliance on potable water while also reducing the amount of underground piping and vault infrastructure.
