northern arizona university
applied research and development facility

Flagstaff, Arizona
Northern Arizona University
To be completed late 2007
Hopkins of London and Wald-Hopkins Architects

At the gateway to Northern Arizona University's scenic mountain campus, the Applied Research and Development Facility is part of the school’s interdisciplinary Center for Sustainable Environments. Among design goals are creation of an architectural landmark and achievement of LEED platinum-level certification.

We teamed with design architects Hopkins of London and Tucson-based Wald-Hopkins Architects to develop a site plan and landscape design to unify building systems and create habitat. The plan was organized around a municipal on-campus detention basin, a potential constraint turned asset. A project goal was to reduce water consumption by 60 percent. By using site-excavated limestone, organizing run-off into planted bioswales and specifying appropriate native plantings for the site, an interior atrium and green roof, the design effectively manages water in the arid and cold Flagstaff climate.

We used collected rainwater and gray water to irrigate the required lawn. Planting themes ranged from native Ponderosa Pine and “montane” restorations to screen off an adjacent shopping center loading dock, to native and well-adapted exotic plants that will fit existing campus themes at the street frontage.

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