Located in Southeast Houston, the University of Houston Law Center is home to three top-ten law programs since its establishment in 1947. Like nearly two-thirds of properties across the city, it’s also vulnerable to flooding—most viscerally in the aftermath of Tropical Storm Allison in 2001, Hurricane Ike in 2008, and Hurricane Harvey in 2017, a trend only exacerbated by climate change.
For the new LEED Silver-certified John M. O’Quinn Law Building, SWA collaborated with the school and Shepley Bulfinch to design a flood-resilient landscape that can store up to 400 thousand gallons of stormwater runoff, filtering water through a lush detention basin planted with native species. Crucially, the design also preserves the existing oak canopy—providing shade for students relaxing on the elevated deck, named “The Grove,” between classes, and maintaining the campus’ character.
On a day-to-day level, the new facility also carves out a wide variety of flexible spaces for collaboration, strengthening the sense of community within the school, breaking down the boundaries between the building, landscape, and campus, and better connecting the next generation of legal professionals with their surroundings.
Foothill Community College
SWA’s design for Foothill College is an exemplary model of site, building, and landscape harmony. The 100-acre campus bridges two hilltops, with parking and roadways relegated to the surrounding valleys. Buildings and landscape together form a series of courts and terraces connected by a continuous campus greenway. Overhanging wood eaves of the low profile bui...
Cañada College Kinesiology & Wellness
In collaboration with ELS, SWA designed a new landmark for Canada College, the Kinesiology & Wellness Center. The project replaced a windowless 1960s-era gym building and outdoor asphalt yard with the glassy new building and infinity pool deck on this hilltop campus with fantastic views. The project also created a new campus arrival and ceremonial overlo...
Stanford West Apartments
SWA has placed a special emphasis on maintaining the riparian corridor with native planting, using consideration when dealing with the archaeologically sensitive areas of the site, as well as existing recreation trails and landscape amenities such as parks and play areas. The internal street grid, architectural and landscape elements are designed to recall the...
CSU Long Beach Peterson Hall
CSU Long Beach is in the process of a series of major renovations as its mid-century buildings fall short in terms of capacity and technology. The Peterson Hall project extends the classroom experience to the outdoors, while also adding much-needed sustainability updates to the landscape. Terraced seating of composite wood invites students to lounge while awai...