Salt Lake City, Utah

After being chosen for the Programming and Master Plan of the Honors College Housing, University of Utah ask our team Pollard Architects and Sasaki Architects to analyze the initial South Campus Quadrant and within our scope of work, Master Plan a Housing Alternative Plan to the original SOM plan created in September 2008. A process such as this, called for an overall procedure to Master Plan the entire quadrant, then select the site which was preferable to the Honors college housing; as well as continue the programming of the Honors College housing. We then returned our attention to the overall site analysis and programmatic requirements of the housing scope of the University of Utah.

We based our approach on a landscape concept, while keeping historical context and sustainable issues in the forefront. By creating outdoor spaces, we were able to tie the future dormitories to the Honors college housing and reinforce our programmatic and preferable plan for the Honors college housing. The University wanted to proceed with the first building and have it under way by 2018. We set the five structures around central courtyards for a sense of community and identity. The South-East corner structure was a critical decision to tie honors college housing into the whole, while receiving the Historical Fort Douglas exterior space across Mario Capecchi Drive. There also needed to be a transition of topography at the South East corner where the roadway and the light rail were already present.

The dormitories would be five to six story structures of similar materials as the honors college housing. A clear distinct dialogue between the standard dormitories and the Honors College needed to exist. Materials from the Fort Douglas historical buildings could be used for the Honors College Housing. A mixture of stone and brick was to be implemented with the chosen General Contractor. The size and scope of the preferred apartment types would be taken from the programming book of the Honors college.