Uniting town and gown

Arizona State University, Beus Center for Law and Society

Phoenix, AZ, USA

Located in downtown Phoenix, the new LEED Gold certified, 280,000ft² Beus Center for Law and Society provides an exemplary new education facility to meet the demands of a changing law school program.

To accommodate growth in enrollment numbers, the building offers modern, flexible learning environments over eight stories. Classrooms, research clinics, and an extensive library are all equipped with the latest technology to support students and staff.

Challenge

A key consideration for our client was increasing engagement between the law school and the wider community by including shared amenities such as the café, library, public plaza and Alumni Law Group, which is the first organization of its kind to be associated with a law school. Our team had to consider how the building layout would accommodate these requirements.

An additional challenge was the tight timescale in which the building needed to be completed, which required close collaboration between teams to devise an efficient delivery program.

Buro Happold’s ability to see the broader issues and link them across technical disciplines truly sets them apart and makes them an essential asset to our design team.

Tomas Rossant, Partner, Ennead Architects

Solution

Our team responded to our client’s ambitious schedule with an integrated approach to design, informed by extensive computer modeling to coordinate the engineering disciplines within the design team. This ensured efficient, accurate solutions were developed to support a seamless construction program.

The overarching goal of realizing a facility that combines low energy use with high occupant comfort was achieved through input from our specialist energy analysis group, which created tools to test and improve designs early on in the project. High performance HVAC systems, such as chilled beams and air displacement systems, will also increase the energy performance of the building.

I have been continually impressed with Buro Happold’s technical expertise, creative thinking, and collaborative nature. Their ability to see the broad picture and quickly provide answers when questions arise made them an ideal collaborator for this project. I wholeheartedly recommend this skilled team of design experts for any capital improvement project which you may be contemplating. Their knowledge and experience of building systems and exterior envelope design is unparalleled.

Ed Soltero, Assistant Vice President and University Architect, Arizona State University

Value

The Beus Center for Law and Society has achieved LEED Gold certification. The work carried out by our specialists resulted in a landmark piece of architecture, designed to serve the educational needs of the university, and the social needs of the community for generations to come.