The College Avenue Commons building on ASU’s Tempe campus. Photographer: Jessica Hochreiter/ASU
The Arizona chapter of the American Institute of Architects on October 14 gave one of its major design awards to the College Avenue Commons building on Arizona State University’s Tempe campus.
The building is home to the Fulton Schools’ School of Sustainable Engineering and the Built Environment and the Del E. Webb School of Construction.
AIA-Arizona design awards honor high standards of design in response to user requirements, building site, climate and environment, as well as projects that nurture “new values and activities that contribute to design and design appreciation.”
College Avenue Commons won the Salt River Project (SRP) Sustainable Award “given for sustainability innovation in projects that advance a post-carbon world, through environmental balance, healthy spaces, and energy, water, material and construction conservation.”
The awards judging panel described the building as a project that “embraces sustainability from design and the use of construction materials, to the building operations and its integration into the urban fabric of Tempe.”
The panel was also impressed with the passive solar design strategies exemplified by the building and noted that as an example for students in the School of Construction the structure provides “a great learning environment.”
The Gensler and Architekton design architecture companies and the Okland Construction company collaborated on the College Avenue Commons project.
The SRP power district is one of the largest public power utilities in the United States and one of the largest raw-water suppliers in Arizona. The company provides electricity to about a million retail customers in the Phoenix metropolitan area as part of its service area spanning three central Arizona counties.
SRP’s Sustainable Award recognizes building projects that demonstrate environmental design innovation, energy efficiency, water conservation strategy, appropriate land use, minimal ecological impact, the use of renewable resources and related factors.
Winners may also be selected based on how a structure’s design elements and architectural features match with standards set by prominent sustainability programs such as Energy Star, Living Building Challenge and the U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification. College Avenue Commons was granted LEED Gold certification.
The SRP award is one of several notable honors recognizing the architectural, design, construction and sustainability aspects of the building, which was completed in 2014.
