print this article | 
e-mail this article
comment 
New Student Union, ASU
Polytechnic Campus
Atwater Commons
Hamilton Village Towers,
University of Pennsylvania
Kenyon Athletic Center
Original Student Center
Expansion
The Warehouse
Tangeman University Center
University of Chicago, Graduate School of
Business
University Center of Lake
County
Westminster Theatre & Cultural Center
and Coastline Community College Learning CenterNew Student Union, ASU Polytechnic Campus
An open, flexible student union invites students in, but carefully shades the desert sun.
Opened in the fall of 2004, the Student Union at Arizona State University east campus, a former military base, provides a new image for the rapidly growing campus. The building, designed by Gould Evans Associates, facilitates social interaction among students, faculty and the community, and is a hub of campus life.
Based on what you have seen and read about this project, how would you grade it? Use the stars below to indicate your assessment, five stars being the highest rating.
The building acts as a container of activity with large multi-function and flexible spaces that open up to a future pedestrian mall and plaza space. The south portion houses a student lounge and dining area that open on three sides to outdoor patios and the main central circulation area. This space includes a coffee shop, game room, information desk, and bookstore. The 400-seat banquet hall opens to an exterior lobby and formal lawn area used for gatherings.
There is a direct relationship between the surrounding agricultural environment and the building design. The ceiling inside the large open dining/lounge space mimics the rows found in adjacent fields. An exterior dining canopy supported with steel beams continues the connection from inside to outside to future pedestrian paths and indigenous desert landscaping. The linear movement throughout the building resembles driving past rolling agricultural fields.
Expansive glass walls, carefully shaded to prevent direct sunlight from entering the building, invite students into the Union with generous views of the activity inside. Large overhead garage-type doors connect the interior and shaded exterior dining areas. The bookstore, located in the main entry, also includes an overhead door that can be opened for outdoor patio sales.
The design respects the relationship between a polytechnic campus and the natural desert environment. The building shell is covered in a corrugated metal scrim and painted deep red to recall brick buildings of older, more established university campuses and the colors of the Sonoran desert. The outer building envelope is offset from the scrim to provide shaded walkways around the building and shading for interior spaces. The scrim reduces direct sunlight by 70 percent, allowing the building to operate more efficiently.
Formal name of project:
New Student Union, ASU Polytechnic Campus
Location: ASU Polytechnic Campus, Mesa, Arizona
Gross square footage: 27,000 sq.ft.
Completion Date: August 2004
Total construction cost: $4.4 Million
Owner: ASU Polytechnic Campus
Architect:
Gould Evans Associates
3136 N. 3rd Avenue,
Phoenix, AZ 85013
www.gouldevans.com
Reader Comments:
