As Prime Consultant for this 18-acre Campus Master Plan and 11-acre Campus Transformation Project, TELA sought to strengthen the connection between the city, the campus, and the land. Acres of sloping asphalt streets and parking have been replaced by a pedestrian-oriented landscape that promotes outdoor learning, gathering and recreation and integrates the surrounding Chihuahuan Desert into the urban fabric of the campus. Centennial Plaza and Centennial Green are richly detailed gathering spaces that comprise the new heart of the campus. New campus malls shaded by native mesquite trees promote connectivity and extend the spirit of the core to the greater campus, linking existing buildings with new courtyards enlivened with a rich palette of Chihuahuan Desert plants. Given the site’s mountainous terrain, dramatic alterations to existing topography were required for accessibility and stormwater mitigation. A constructed network of vegetated arroyos along campus malls now channel, slow, and filter stormwater, which had previously sheeted over acres of paving. Pedestrian bridges traverse arroyos both large and small, providing the opportunity to overlook newly dramatized ephemeral rain events. Local and salvaged materials were integrated into the site design whenever possible, both to reduce waste and to engage the site’s historical context.

The project has been awarded the Sustainable SITES Initiative Silver Certification, the first project in the world to earn SITES certification beyond the Initiative’s pilot projects, recognizing the project as a model of sustainability in remote desert climates.

"To me, this project was one of those rare, 'perfect match' occasions where the stars aligned. All of us at UTEP consider ourselves so very fortunate to have been able to entrust our Centennial campus transformation to your remarkable vision and determination to 'get it right.' Having my own set of passions about both UTEP’s campus center and the region’s ecology, I worried that we wouldn’t be able to find an architect who would do justice to our goals for our 'new' UTEP campus climate. You not only did them justice, but took them to a far higher level than even we imagined we could. So, thanks again to you for the brilliant work you did...and for your tenacity in protecting and perfecting our beautiful UTEP campus, and preparing it to flourish for the next 100 years." - Dr. Diana Natalicio, President of The University of Texas at El Paso