UC Davis West Village is a new 225-acre development in Davis, California, that responds to a substantial growth in the number of students, faculty and staff living on the University’s campus. The city of Davis is a unique and cherished community, and great care was taken throughout the design and planning process to pay homage to its history and culture. The needs for the University include housing for approximately 3,000 students and 500 members of the University faculty and staff, as well as a mixed-use retail area, extensive parks and an open space network. SWA’s concept focuses on three key principals: housing affordability, quality of place, and environmental responsiveness. As a result, the Village is the largest planned zero-net energy community in the United States, combining compact walkable neighborhoods with sustainable initiatives such as an extensive bike network, permeable paving, solar thermal collectors, storm water management and conservation, and comprehensive tree shading. The community has achieved an exceptional 87% of initial ZNE goals in the first year. SWA’s design aesthetic focuses on integrating these initiatives in an authentically local manner, employing systems that work best with the local environmental condition. This balance between goals of sustainability and local cultural authenticity propels the project towards a cohesive network of program, circulation and outdoor spaces to serve the community. The project ultimately incorporates affordable housing in a neighborhood setting, while strengthening on-campus involvement, and creates a distinctive place to live in a pedestrian-oriented and bike-friendly environment.
Stanford Hoover Institution Traitel Building
The Hoover Institution at Stanford University is a public policy research organization promoting the principals of individual, economic, and political freedom. CAW and SWA collaborated as a design team to create a building and site that helped promote research collaboration through open site connections and workspace.
SWA focused on a site design that s...
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...
CSULB Liberal Arts Courtyards
The programming and design of the Liberal Art Courtyards were the result of the successful landscape master plan for 322 acres, completed by SWA in 2012 and enhancing the existing campus aesthetic and experience while improving functional relationships for its students, faculty, and community. Considerations included a wealth of open spaces largely devoted to ...
Westmark School
Westmark is a private, second-through-12th-grade school focused on providing quality education to students with learning differences. The project itself has been divided into five separate phases, which will include site renovations for classrooms, courtyards, playgrounds, etc. The school provides a unique student experience that re-envisions traditional educa...