The University of Arizona Student Success District will become a core destination of the greater University of Arizona campus. The landscape design will transform thousands of square feet of exposed, unwelcoming and utilitarian spaces into an academic, social and ecological campus hub that embraces and sustains wellness within the desert. Bio-inspired design solutions will strive to improve human health, sustain the environment, and provide a setting that fosters student success and wellness. The district’s walkways, plazas, and gardens will form a green network emphasizing biodiversity, permeability, and the judicious use of hardscape, in order to transform once lifeless, disjointed spaces into a restorative, cohesive, universally accessible pedestrian environment.

The district will link academic buildings, courtyards, and desert gardens, within the context of greater campus. Native Sonoran Desert plants, reused paving material salvaged from the site, and regionally-inspired features such as tinajas, arroyos, and canals will harvest stormwater, mitigate flooding, promote biodiversity and foster a sense of place, while celebrating the ephemeral presence of water. As a desert oasis within the campus fabric, students, faculty and visitors will be immersed in the dappled shade of native trees, sculptural shade structures, vivid swaths of native plants, and gardens that integrate traditional desert landscape design with riparian and upper Sonoran Desert ecosystems.